art and culture

• Myanmar (Burma)

Richie Nath is 27-year-old painter who fled Myanmar after the 2021 military coup. He is now a refugee in Paris where he continues to paint artworks criticizing the Burmese military junta's brutal repression of dissent. Rights groups and investigative media have documented Myanmar's systematic killing, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and other sexual violence against protesters since the coup and the country's continued ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas since 2012.

• Italy

The Ocean Viking will have on board an exhibition of works by Italian cartoonist and activist Gianluca Costantini, who came up with this idea when the rescue ship of the NGO SOS Mediterranée docked in his city, Ravenna, in Bolognia.

• Afghanistan
• Portugal

In the Afghanistan of the Taliban, listening to or playing music is considered a sin. The Afghanistan National Institute of Music has been closed since the hardline Islamists returned to power in Kabul in August 2021. The students and teachers of the school fled the country and found refuge in Portugal. Despite the difficulties of exile, they hope to revive their school and thus preserve the Afghan musical heritage.

• Germany
• Syria

Before the war broke out in Syria, Mohamad Alhamod was a successful luxury dressmaker in Damascus. After fleeing to Germany, he fought hard to rebuild his career. Today, he owns a small fashion label. He recently presented the latest collection in Berlin. His team at the show included many other refugees.

• Italy

Luca Traini, a far-right sympathizer who was sentenced to 12 years in jail for having seriously wounded six African migrants in a drive-by shooting in 2018, has received an award in a poetry competition in prison.

• Italy

The seventh edition of an Italian festival on migration issues was recently held in Modena, Ferrara and Carpi. Among the speeches made was one by Erio Castellucci, vice president of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) for northern Italy, who called for brotherhood with those who are forced to flee.

• Italy

On Procida, an island near Italy's southern port city of Naples, a musical ensemble has been created made up of migrants from seven nations on three continents. A free concert will be held in the Marina Grande square on November 26.

• Italy
• Nigeria

Abdul, whose stage name is Maestros, talks about his redemption after a series of atrocities in Africa. He fled violence and poverty in Nigeria and he escaped again from Libya. Then he reached Italy on a boat, where -- he recounts -- "I saw children taken away from their mothers and thrown into the sea to ease the ship's weight."

• Italy

'Un Milione di Italiani (Non Sono Italiani)' is a musical documentary by Maurizio Braucci on Italy's Ius Soli citizenship law. Fatima Mbengue and Sara Vanderwert, Italian daughters of foreign citizens, sing in the film.

• Lithuania

Following the Belarus-EU border crisis, thousands of asylum seekers entered Lithuania. A year later, many still remain in detention with little contact with the outside world. These are stories of several artists who are trying to create connection through their art.

• Belarus
• Iraq
• Lithuania

InfoMigrants speaks to journalist Gabriela Ramírez about the detention of refugees in Lithuania and a creative project that seeks to help them cope with their situation.

• Afghanistan
• Germany

The 'Fly With Me' Afghan kite flying festival took place in different cities all across Europe, to show solidarity with Afghanistan. Participants enjoyed a showcase of Afghan culture with music, poetry and dance, before hoisting their handmade kites into the sky.