Refugees Arrivals – Newcastle University

This animation was commissioned by the Professor Peter Hopkins at Newcastle University and funded byESRC (ES/V015141/1). It is a research-lead piece that uses participants own words to explore the challenges and opportunities presented to refugees and asylum seekers in navigating their arrival in the UK. An empathic exercise, this animation combines hand-drawn animation with 2D/Motion Graphics and also incorporates professional sound design.

For those seeking asylum, stepping foot on new soil is the first of many forms of arrival they will negotiate. They also arrive into new political and bureaucratic systems, new medical, educational, and social systems, and new spheres for expression of the self. Arrivals like these can be slow and complex. What does it mean, and what toll does it take, when arrival is a process that’s ongoing?