Esa Aldegheri's poem 'Tone', recorded and posted to celebrate and acknowledge International Women's Day.

Break in the Waves Esa Aldegheri

Tambacounda Trio

Our guest today is Polly Pallister-Wilkins. We talk to Polly about humanitarian borderwork. Polly came up with this term to point to the complicated relationship between violent mobility injustice and the life-saving rescue efforts that occur in response. What does it mean when humanitarianism is the main response to death and suffering at the border? What lines can be drawn between today’s humanitarian borders, colonialism and white supremacy?

Graphic design by Thomas from Dark Roast (www.instagram.com/thomas.darkroast)

Theme music: David (guitar) and Joris (drums)

Theme music: Allen (accordion) and Neske (violin), after Doina from the Fanfare Ciocarlia

Ep 19: Humanitarian borders. With Polly Pallister-Wilkins (English).

Join Social History Curator, Isobel McDonald in conversation Bangladeshi Association president, Dr Tareq Abdullah and Trustee of the Bangladeshi Association Dr. Saif Khan as they tell us about their wonderful collaborative project researching the story of the Lascars, seafarers who were employed by British Merchant ships during the colonial period. 

Timecodes:
00:00 - 05:00 Introductions from Tareq and Saif and what the Lascar plaque is
06:00 - 10:00 Who were Lascars and what did they do
10:00 - 19:00 The Bangladeshi Association Lascar play and the development of this, working with various partners, including Glasgow Museums
20:00 - 30:00 Working with the Bangladeshi community and how this helped people reflect on their own heritage stories
30:00 - 47:00 The other outcomes of the project, including the documentary and reflections on what the various strands of the project have meant and the importance of intangible cultural heritage  


Discover More:

Bangladeshi Association Glasgow
http://bangladeshassociationglasgow.com/

More on the Lascar Project 
http://bangladeshassociationglasgow.com/index.php/events/251-presentation-on-lascar-research-project

Lascar Presentation at the Museums Association Conference 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fabmveWfL8I

Glasgow Museums - Lascar plaque
http://collections.glasgowmuseums.com/mwebcgi/mweb?request=record;id=43212;type=101

Season 4 Episode 3: Lascar Research Project

Ps[c]yched is for string quartet, four bikes and electronics. It was written for the lead-up to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games as part of an event called 'Sound of Sport Glasgow'. It was commissioned by Third Ear Music and the Coull String Quartet with funds from the PRS for Music Foundation. It was performed by the Coull String Quartet in Glasgow in June 2014 and then at the Walled City Music Festival in Derry in July 2014.

Ps[c]yched, for string quartet, bikes and electronics

Afamba apota is a Zimbabwean proverb recited to remind ourselves of the unpredictability of going on a journey. This radio play is a playful look at the important matter of migration. Join self-proclaimed master documentary maker Paul Lamont as he enters the migration corridor and meets the inhabitants.

Afamba Apota

A sonic sketch made in response to this window in Ghent City Theatre, including audio recorded on a march for Gaza in Malmö, Sweden, and words gathered from the UNESCO RIELA Spring School, in languages including Icelandic, Azerbaijani, German, Gaelic, Te Reo Maori, Basque, French, Turkish, Dutch, Mandarin, Lamnso, English, Italian and Korean.

With gratitude to Geraldine, PIki, Hsiao-Chiang/Hope, Avril, Miray, Anja, Nerea, Esa, Sarah, René, Samira, Erdem, Bella and Alison - thank you for sharing your voices, languages and soundscapes.

soft smart fragile tender

This track has been put together with the UNESCO Spring School at Glasgow University, using words, stories and sounds emerging from conversations on the Peace Bench. 

May Peace Prevail

In this episode, Julie Ward, former MEP with a background in activism, talks about the Durham-based 'No To Hassockfield' campaign. Hassockfield is the site of an Immigration Removal Centre and the campaign was fighting for its closure, uses creative arts as a powerful tool to raise awareness of the harms caused by asylum detention and the need to provide community alternatives, whilst also providing a culture of care for the campaigners. 

This presentation was recorded at the UNESCO RIELA Spring School: The Arts of Integrating 2025. This event gets hosted annually in person in Glasgow, Scotland in May and online in October. The next edition is due on 27-31 October 2025.

For the full show notes, please visit bit.ly/thesoundsofintegration

The Sounds of the Spring School

Julie Ward on the No To Hassockfield campaign

E81 - Julie Ward on the No To Hassockfield campaign

All This Time

Welcome to the podcast series of the UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts (RILA) at the University of Glasgow. 

We bring you sounds to make you think about integration, languages, culture, society and identity. A collection of academic musings, poetry, lesser heard voices and personal stories for you to enjoy and expand you horizons with. In short: a podcast for everyone with stories from the world, about the world, released fortnightly.

We work in collaboration with Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network (GRAMNet) and its partners. Together, our aim is to promote creative, practical multilingual action for change at all levels of society to build capacity in research and action focused on fostering cultural expressions of heritage and diversity with displaced peoples, and academic freedom for those at risk.

Please subscribe to get notified of new episodes coming out! Full show notes can be found on the University of Glasgow's UNESCO RILA pages: bit.ly/thesoundsofintegration

E81 - Julie Ward on the No To Hassockfield campaign

Unesco RILA

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