R-Lab Festival: the agenda
Art and the inclusion of newcomers in Europe
22-27 April 2025, Maison des Réfugiés, Paris (House of Refugees)
6 days of conferences and workshops:
an event organised by La Transplanisphère, Ndam Se Na and SINGA Paris
The R-Lab Festival is an event for reflection, exchange, training and presentations on artistic approaches for new arrivals and local communities.
It brings together refugees, artists, social and cultural players, NGOs and scientists to share their work for inclusion.
The programme includes
- sharing of methods for professionals
- round tables on the links between art, artists, refugees and local communities
- artistic presentations (performances, exhibitions, screenings)
- workshops open to local amateur groups
R-Lab proposes to take stock of the initiatives carried out over the last 20 years by various stakeholders in Europe and beyond. It will also be an opportunity to lay the foundations for new projects linking artists and refugees. This week in Paris will echo forthcoming events in other European cities involved in the project.
Editorial from the R-Lab team
At the heart of this R-Lab initiative is the desire to stimulate a meeting between social work and artistic practices. These two worlds come together here to share innovative solutions to the challenges posed by welcoming and including new arrivals. The workshops offered by the artists will help to strengthen the skills of those involved and to explore together methodologies adapted to working with multicultural groups.
The R-Lab Festival is not just about sharing know-how. It is part of a collaborative dynamic in which refugees, artists and local communities co-create artistic works. These creations, be they performances, exhibitions or screenings, will be presented to the public during the festival, bearing witness to the richness of the human and cultural exchanges that have nurtured them.
The festival aims to be a space for intercultural exchange, where artistic methods used in different contexts – in France, Greece, Germany and Chad – are brought into dialogue.
The R-Lab Festival aims to strengthen social inclusion while celebrating cultural diversity as a strength.It invites us to rethink our relationship with others and to recognise art as a powerful tool for building bridges between people.It’s an ode to resilience, shared creativity and the richness that comes from the meeting of cultures.
La Transplanisphère, Ndam Sé Na and SINGA
R-Lab Festival
From Tuesday to Saturday, each day is divided into three parts:
- In the morning: a professional workshop on the methodology of artistic animation,
- in the afternoon: a meeting or an amateur workshop to put into practice the arts
- early evening: social events with artistic presentations, world café, workshop feedback, etc.
Methodologies / open workshops / feedback
Each morning features a 2.5-hour workshop designed to pass on artistic facilitation methodologies devised by artists (or teams of artists) and adapted to different audiences: pupils, young people, unaccompanied minors (UAMs), new arrivals, the local community, etc.
These courses are aimed at people who want to incorporate these tools into their practice: teachers, professionals from voluntary organisations, the social sector or those working with new arrivals (refugees, asylum seekers, etc.).
On Thursdays (Theatre Makes Politics project) and Fridays (Lotus project), the morning students are invited to become facilitators in the afternoon, so that they can put their new knowledge into practice.
Presentations, meetings, sharing
On Monday and Tuesday afternoons, as well as every day at 6pm, special events are organised to give a voice to institutional and social structures and artists, and to enable a wider audience to discuss, meet and share values and ideas.