The Brussels Refugee Week 2024 unfolded across various locations in the city, placing refugees’ at the forefront over nine days (15-23 June 2024) with six featured events:
Promotional material by the ©UNHCR’s communications and media department
Click here to visit UNHCR’s website for the Brussels Refugee Week
Event 1: Football tournament (15 June 2024, 10am-3pm)
A thrilling 5-a-side football tournament where refugees and local teams competed at Centre Fitfive in Forest.
The event culminated in an exhilarating finale, with the emerging victory of the Burundian team.
Events 2 and 3: Outdoor concerts and refugees’ bazaar (16 June, 11 AM – 7 PM)
Place Jean Rey in Brussels was transformed into a vibrant cultural hub, where refugee and local artists performed Afghan, Afro, Congolese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Ukrainian music and dance. Art became a universal language, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds and histories through joy.
Attendees enjoyed not only the captivating performances, but also had the great chance to taste delicious foods and handcrafted delicacies at the Bazaar tents featuring the talents of Afghan, Burundian, Iraqi, Syrian, and Ukraine artists and chefs.
Event 4: Photo & art exhibition (17-22 June, 10am-8pm)
Showcasing over 300 pictures, sculptures and paintings by 17 refugee artists, this exhibition represented the realities of 6 countries (Afghanistan, Greece, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and Ukraine) at the exhibition rooms at the Refugee Community Centre at Rue de la Loi 89.
(©Ben Mason)
The event kicked off with a vibrant vernissage on the evening of June 17, featuring speeches by Jean-Nicolas Beuze (UNHCR’s representative in Brussels), Ahmad Wali Ahmad Yar (Umbrella Refugee Committee’s President), and Alina Kokhanko (Ukrainian Voices Refugee Committee’s President). The opening ceremony was followed by a guided tour where refugee artists shared insights about their artworks and personal stories.
Event 5: Movie nights (17-22 June, 7pm-10pm)
13 diverse movies selected and projected by refugees to raise awareness of the struggle and resilience of forcibly displaced communities across the world were screened at the refugee’s Community Centre in Rue de la Loi 89.
Event 6: Book fair (22-23 June, 11am-4.30pm)
The Refugee Community Centre at Rue de la Loi 89 hosted a diverse collection of books and games by 12 refugee authors who shared their experiences and stories through literature, poetry, children’s books, and manga.
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