The Refugee Art Project is a non-profit, community art organisation that has facilitated art workshops for asylum seekers and refugees in the Villawood detention centre and those living in the Western Sydney community since late 2010.

The artworks featured in the Project Space present a raw, sometimes hopeful and often challenging insight into participants’ experiences and the continuing psychological impacts. In this exhibition participants have journeyed to Australia from countries including Iran, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (Burma).

The Refugee Art Project shares the artworks produced in their workshops with the public through exhibitions like this one and through self-published zines – some of which are on sale in our Art Store. This is done with the permission of the artists who sometimes choose to use nicknames or not be named at all.

The aim of making these works visible is to educate the broader Australian community by challenging misconceptions that surround the refugee issue, and to facilitate the agency and self-expression of asylum seekers and refugees through artmaking.

On Saturday 4th August at 6pm, Cement Fondu will be holding a silent auction to raise funds for the Refugee Art Project, which will be hosted by artist Abdul Abdullah. A selection of the artworks on show and those donated by esteemed Australian artists will be available to acquire.