Sanctuary in Action

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 

• Reaching, Touching, Shedding – Post‑Match Conversation: An exhibition walkthrough of new work by artist Helena Samarasinghe (winner of the Vanguard Prize 2024) and informal roundtable exploring art, sport, belonging and visibility, bringing together artists, curators and athletes including members of the Refugee Olympic Team.

• Reframed Realities: UK / Ukraine:  a collaborative exhibition between LCC and NAFAA (Kyiv), exhibited in UAL’s not just a shop. The work used visual storytelling to explore culture as resistance and cross‑cultural dialogue during Refugee Week.

• Supper in Solidarity: An evening of food, connection, and community hosted by the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants to celebrate Refugee Week. The event featured screenings of LCC students’ animation work developed in collaboration with refugee and migrant communities.

• In between: An exhibition bringing together documentary work by LCC Photojournalism students exploring social, cultural, and personal stories, created in collaboration with community and migration‑focused charities. Their work demonstrates an emerging awareness of photography’s capacity not only to record the world but also to interpret, question and reframe it.