Local initiatives

Initiatives in Milton Keynes that support the integration of migrant communities

Anouar Kassim (MBE), founder of the Milton Keynes Islamic Arts Culture and Heritage organization (MKIACH) initiated an art project involving immigrant women in Milton Keynes as a way of empowering them and strengthening inter-cultural exchange. A series of workshops were organized where local artists guided a group of migrant women – including Muslim, Sikh, Nigerian, Iranian, Indian, Pakistani and Tamil women – in making quilt patterns. The quilt fragments will be combined into a larger quilt, and displayed in various locations in Milton Keynes. The value of the workshops was above all the discussions that were initiated between the women of various backgrounds: about the challenges of integration in a new place with a new language, about the socio-political and climatic changes that impact migration in their countries of origin, and the value of community and creative exchange.

Click here to view a video about the project.