Exercise 3: Challenging refugee-related stereotypes. European responses and initiatives

Time: 30 min

Teaching method: group discussion, case study, working with pictures and movies

The goal of this exercise:

• to make pupils learn about various initiatives and actions taken on the refugee-related stereotypes matter
• to learn how we can support each other to challenge stereotypes

Instruction for teacher:

Split your pupils into two groups. Ask them to read texts and/or watch short movies about community initiatives aim at challenging refugee-related stereotypes (one case per one group). It should not take more than 10 minutes.

Start with case no. 1. Ask one person to share the initiative with the rest of the class. Then ask pupils to answer following questions:

• What stereotypes and myths about refugees are the organizers of the initiative trying to challenge? (You can write answers on the board.)
• What can citizens of European cities learn about refugees thanks to the initiative?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of such initiatives?
• Which event would you like to attend and why?

Then move on to case no. 2. Again, ask one volunteer to share the initiative with the rest of the class. Before starting the discussion, display some photos from the exhibition. Discuss how the author portrays women. Focus on details, e.g., wearing nail polish, business poses. Ask your pupils what can it tell us about these women’s past or aspirations? You can also discuss questions above.

 

Example:

 

How food can break down stereotypes

Story of the Food Sweet Food Association

The Refugee Food project was born in 2016 from citizens wishing to mobilize for the welcoming and integration of refugees in their city, Paris. After travelling through 18 countries to discover the popular cuisine with dozens of men and women around the world, Marine Mandrila and Louis Martin (founders of the association Food Sweet Food, the project’s initiators) became aware that cooking brings people and cultures closer together, breaks down stereotypes, and is a tremendous lever for integration. In the midst of a “migration crisis”, they wanted to counter the miserable and anxiety-provoking rhetoric about refugees fleeing persecution or conflict to save their lives. The initial idea is simple: to propose culinary collaborations between refugee cooks and restaurant owners, and thus showcase their talents and cultures.

From the beginning of the project, the Paris office of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) supports the project and becomes a partner, along with other associative actors. Thanks to their support, the Food Sweet Food Association is developing a methodological kit to enable other citizens to develop the festival in their city.

In June 2017 the project will be developed in 11 European cities, thanks to twenty committed local citizens. Then again in 2018 and 2019, where 15 French and European cities will again host the festival on the occasion of World Refugee Day (20 June) and more than 200 restaurants will open their stoves to refugee cooks for new collaborations (see the 2019 program).

In addition to the annual festival, the association has developed other activities to fulfill its mission of raising awareness and informing the general public, promoting professional integration, but also having a global impact to help build a more united and open world”.

Source: https://refugee-food.org/?lang=en

Short movie about Refugee Food Festival (1:39 min):

 

or

Interview with Louis Martin, co-founder of the Refugee Food Festival and Haitham Karachay, a Syrian chef (7:48 min):

 

Photos challenge stereotypes about refugees

Story of the exhibition “I did not say goodbye. Women in Exile”

Staring out at the viewer, these are the faces of the new Berliners.

These images are part of the exhibition “I did not say goodbye. Women in Exile” at the Museum of European Culture in Berlin.

A collection of 33 large-scale photos show women who have fled their home countries.

All the women arrived in Germany in the last five years, and all have had to leave their homes to set up a new life in Berlin.

The photographer Heike Steinweg had the idea for the project in 2015 when photographs of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Syria were on the front pages of newspapers every day.

She wanted to take photos of these same people, but in a normal setting, to show that the news photos are not the full story.

“The women have very different backgrounds and they come from different countries. Although many are of course from Syria because of the war,” says Steinweg.

“For me, it was important to show both women from a more academic background and women from simpler backgrounds. And what connects them is that they took their own lives in their hands and made a decision to change things. And I think they grew because of the situation. My impression is that they are very strong women that look to the future with joy, even though they have difficult pasts.”

There are just short descriptions of the women in the photographs, and their full names or where they come from are not given.

Instead, Steinweg wants people to look at the women in the photos without any preconceived ideas.

If they want to find out more, then there is a book in the exhibition room where visitors can read the stories the women have written themselves.

One of the photos shows Marina Karkoutly from Damascus.

She says she wanted to take a part in the exhibition because it gave her a chance to tell her own story.

“I chose to do this project because it was a good chance to talk in my own words about my own experience about the topic I wanted to talk about. Rather than being used from a certain organisation, to be told what to say. Heike’s approach was very empowering and nice. That’s why I wanted to take part in it.”

While most of the women are from Syria, women from five other countries are represented in the exhibition.

Karkoutly says she hopes that the exhibition can challenge visitor’s preconceived ideas of “refugees”.

“I think this project could change people’s views. Especially since Heike, in a very clever way, represented the women without giving information about our backgrounds,” she says.

“No country, no information, in one picture not even the face of the person. It was just a person. And I would say that yes, this will help when changing people’s views about us.”

Source: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/84743d1e95a19b68b8ae27761f1b3b7b

Photos are available here: https://www.smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/i-never-said-goodbye-women-in-exile/

A short movie (in German) (3:46 min)