A Newcastle College student’s artwork is on display at Gateshead’s Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art this week (Monday 14 June - Sunday 2 July), as part of the Refugee Week exhibition “Compassion”.
Filiz Sustam Oylum, originally from Turkey, is currently completing her Level 1 English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) exams at Newcastle College. Outside of college, she creates traditional Kurdish ceramic art and pottery, a skill she taught others in Turkey before moving to the UK.
Filiz said: “I was a teaching artist in Turkey and had exhibitions out there with my brother. It is very important to me to exhibit my work in England as it’s a very good opportunity.”
Claire Harmer, Filiz’s tutor explained: “Filiz has struggled over the past few years, so it’s great to see her find confidence through both her creativity and learning English. During lockdown she would show me the artwork she was working on during our online classes, like the lemon tree she painted on her daughter’s wall. It’s amazing that she now has artwork on display in Newcastle’s biggest gallery.”
The group exhibition is open now in Baltic’s Level 5 Viewing Box and includes work by eight other artists who have each experienced displacement: Solomon Gebreyonas, Skekiba Lutfi, Mesgana Estifanos, Rozita Yusof, Farnaz Taheri, Mina Moradi Kondor, Soheyla Bakhtiyari and Sedigheh Hayati.
The exhibition is created in partnership with NE Rise, an organisation that supports refugees in the North East. It invites people to explore the transformative potential of empathy, kindness, and understanding.
"Compassion” is open until Sunday 2 July. A special event on Thursday 29 June, 4pm -5.30pm, provides an opportunity to meet the artists involved.
Find out more: Baltic shows Compassion with Level 5 exhibition + events for Refugee Week 2023 | Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art