Transparency - Living Without Borders - UK

Three weeks of workshops gave young participants an opportunity to express their hopes, dreams, and needs through photography; their work offers the viewer a direct look at the lives of a group that is often misrepresented. The images challenge recent negative and stereotypical portrayals of immigrant communities in the UK, highlighting the universality of being a teenager living in Britain in the twenty-first century while also illustrating the special challenges that refugees face (for instance, in coping with memories of their homelands).

This work was displayed at an exhibition at the Spitz Gallery in London from June 17-30, 2002 marking Refugee Week 2002. Starting in October, 2002, the exhibition will tour venues across the UK in partnership with Save the Children UK. A short video documenting the progress of the group will be screened alongside the exhibition.

Children, Youth.

Organisers note that there are more than 6,000 young people currently living in the UK who come to seek asylum. Despite the fact that in 2000, 2735 unaccompanied refugee children applied for asylum in Britain, relatively little is known about their individual experiences.

Most of the photographers are young refugees who have arrived alone in the capital from Afghanistan, Angola, Iraq, Nigeria, Romania, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka. Some have fled intolerable situations and possess a limited knowledge of English.