Welcome to our new website

We are thrilled to be launching our new digital platform. Cross Borders is a programme of arts and cultural activism projects led by Scottish Refugee Council. Since 2021, we have been developing arts and cultural projects with artists, activists and cultural practitioners from refugee and other migrant backgrounds in Scotland.

Over the last two years, we have steadily been advocating for the rights of artists and activists whilst facilitating connections within the wider culture sector. We have worked with practitioners who already had careers in the arts before coming to Scotland, and those who were not able to pursue their artistic interests in their home country. So far, we have commissioned a diverse range of multi disciplinary new work, collaborated with arts and cultural organisations such as Edinburgh International Festival and supported artistic development through our mentoring programme.

As we continue to develop the programme, we are delighted to have a digital base where you can find out what we’re up to and connect with the associate artists in our network. Here’s what you can find:

Projects: Where we share the outcomes of our commissions and collaborations with artists and activists.

Associates: Where you can find details of the artists, activists, writers, journalists and cultural practitioners we work with.

News: Where we share announcements from our programme including open calls, exhibitions, workshops, film screenings and more.

Resources: Where we share commissioned and found resources for cultural practitioners from refugee and migrant backgrounds, and those who work with them.

Mentoring: Where you can find out about our year long mentoring programme, which matches practitioners with professionally established mentors and provides small grants to support their development.

Cross Borders is for anyone with a creative or cultural practice who has sought refugee protection or been forcibly displaced and is currently living in Scotland. For more on who and what practices we support, visit our about page. For any enquiries about the programme please get in touch using our contact form.

Our website has been carefully developed and designed by Lizzie Malcome (Rectangle) and Neil McGuire (After the News) and illustrated by Saffa Khan. For our digital accessibility objectives see our accessibility statement.

Image credit: Amber | Edinburgh International Festival | The Studio | Andrew Perry 2022