Insiders/Outsiders is a nationwide arts festival paying tribute to the indelible contribution of the artists, photographers, writers, architects, designers, actors, film-makers, dancers and musicians, as well as art historians, dealers and publishers, who in fleeing Nazi-dominated Europe in the 1930s so greatly enriched British culture. Running from March 2019 until March 2020, it comprises a dazzling array of exhibitions, concerts, performances, film screenings, walks, lectures, literary and educational events.
While in no way underplaying the émigrés’ experience of loss, dispossession and displacement, or the difficulties they encountered on arrival in Britain, the general tenor of the festival is affirmative and celebratory. With the plight of refugees and the rise of right-wing politics and racism being once again pressing and topical issues, 2019, as the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, is the ideal moment to take stock of Britain’s debt to an earlier generation who found refuge on these shores. It is also a fitting moment to pay tribute to those British-born individuals who, in welcoming and working with the émigrés, chose openness and internationalism over provincialism and xenophobia.
Design of website and printed matter.
Client: Monica Bohm-Duchen, whose text on the left outlines the Festival’s aim.
