3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Edinburgh Refugee Festival – A Life in One Suitcase
As part of the Edinburgh Refugee Festival the organisation, Mission of Innocents, is taking part with 'A Life in One Suitcase' – evocative dance and vocal performance exploring displacement, belonging, and hope.
Event: A Life in One Suitcase
A Life in One Suitcase When: Friday 13 June at 4.30 PM
Friday 13 June at 4.30 PM Where: St. Cuthbert's Church, Lothian Road, Edinburgh
St. Cuthbert's Church, Lothian Road, Edinburgh No Admission Free (Part of the Edinburgh Refugee Festival 2025)
This is a powerful multimedia event illuminating the emotional and psychological impact of forced migration through music, movement, and visual art.
The centrepiece of the event is a 40–45 minute live vocal and dance performance, created and directed by Oksana Saiapina, and presented by Mission of Innocents. This performance tells the deeply moving story of a person fleeing their home forever—leaving behind family, memories, and identity—captured through the simple but symbolic object of a suitcase. Inside is everything most precious. Inside is a life.
The show features performances from:
Vocalist Karina Chervyakova
Dance group Flowers of Ukraine
Children's group Kvity Ukrainy, directed by Oksana Saiapina
Children's choir Harmony, directed by Nataliia Khomenko
Dance group MyWay, directed by Tetiana Gordienko
The performance will be accompanied by three visual exhibitions that offer a broader reflection on memory, identity, and resilience:
The Weight We Carried – A display of personal belongings, symbolic objects, and photographs from Ukrainian refugees who fled war. It poses the searing question: If you had to pack your life into one suitcase, what would you take?
Icons on Ammo Boxes – An internationally exhibited project by Spiders of Ukraine, transforming materials of war into sacred icons of peace.
Refugee and Migrant Art Showcase – Paintings, sculpture, textile art and mixed media by displaced artists from across Scotland, marking personal milestones in resettlement.
This event is presented as part of the Edinburgh Refugee Festival 2025, with support from the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, Consulate of Ukraine, and the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Ukraine.
The dance segment is organised by Mission of Innocents, a grassroots initiative founded by Joyce Landry, supporting refugee children and families in Scotland through the arts and creative mental health programmes. Their work offers displaced young people tools for expression, healing, and self-worth through song, dance, and storytelling.
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