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Sanctuary in Action

A bright coloured illustration of a picnic blanket with many items of food spread over it such as pink lemonade, fruits and bread. Food is being shared across many hands.
A bright coloured illustration of a picnic blanket with many items of food spread over it such as pink lemonade, fruits and bread. Food is being shared across many hands.
Sanctuary in Action - Picnic and pomegranates | Illustration by Eve Bull, 2025

A year‑long engagement programme to create sustained, meaningful impact and a culture of sanctuary across the university.

Building on insights from a Refugee Week community consultation, we established Sanctuary in Action, a year-round programme designed to create longer-term impact and embed a culture of sanctuary across UAL.

The programme takes place across our buildings, using a three-dimensional approach to engagement targeting:

  • staff and academics
  • students
  • local communities.

Sanctuary in Action 2026 

Last year, we piloted a university-wide approach to sanctuary engagement. This year, we are building on that work by strengthening relationships and nurturing new collaborations.

Alongside supporting and amplifying existing projects, the programme creates space to test new ideas and forms of engagement.

  • Routes and Roots Showcase Collection: brings together student projects that explore movement and migration across borders, histories and generations. It is a reflection of how students are engaging creatively with ideas of sanctuary, belonging, and place.
  • Sanctuary at UAL Libraries: We are working with UAL Libraries to pilot sanctuary themed initiatives in line with Libraries of Sanctuary to make learning around displacement, migration, welcome, and belonging more visible and accessible. This includes special displays, a new LibGuide and more to come.
Artwork of an athlete in motion playing badminton by Helena Samarasinghe, A place for wholeness, 2026, ink, soft pastel and charcoal, 152 x 226 cm Photo by Sutirtha Chatterjee
Helena Samarasinghe, A place for wholeness, 2026, ink, soft pastel and charcoal, 152 x 226 cm Photo by Sutirtha Chatterjee
  • Reaching, Touching, Shedding: This exhibition of new work by Vanguard Prize 2024 winner Helena Samarasinghe explores themes of power, resilience and belonging through the lens of sport, culminating in a powerful portrait of Refugee Olympic Team member Dorsa Yavarivafa. You can visit the exhibition at Camberwell Space between 15th May and 17th July, open Thursday to Saturday, 11am–4pm.

Explore Sanctuary in Action

  • Colourful artwork combining paint, collage and text
    No Place Like Home Javier Arean, 2025 Graduate Diploma Fine Art, Central Saint Martins, UAL

    Routes and Roots Showcase collection  

    A Showcase collection curated by the UAL Sanctuary team.

  • Library display featuring various books on round table
    Library Services Refugee Week 2026 book display

    Sanctuary at UAL Libraries

    Refugee Week 2026: Stories of Sanctuary, creativity and connection at UAL Library Services.

  • Student using a laptop in the library.
    Maria (Mia) Pontes Leite, 2023 Business Pathway, London College of Fashion, UAL | Photograph: Alys Tomlinson

    Sanctuary Library Guide  

    Recommended resources for sanctuary work and practice.

Related links

  • 4 rectangle landscape illustrations set over an illustrated textile background. The images depict a face; shoes; a coin purse and prayer beads
    Sanctuary in Action - Textiles and memories | Illustration by Eve Bull, 2025

    Sanctuary in our community

  • An illustrated hand with a plant growing from it, on top of a yellow-orange gradient background
    Sanctuary in Action - Hand and seeds| Illustration by Eve Bull, 2025

    UAL Sanctuary

  • Colourful collage
    Anita Preise-Nweke, 2023 Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL

    UAL Global

Get in touch

aisha.khan@arts.ac.uk