The arts and culture festival that brings Australia’s diverse talent, to the fore.

The SSI New Beginnings Festival promotes the talents, vitality and diversity that people from refugee and migrant backgrounds bring to Australia's creative sector.

Marking Refugee Week 2019, the SSI New Beginnings Winter Festival will form part
of Open Inner West at the Community Refugee Welcome Centre (CRWC) in Callan
Park, Lilyfield, on June 22, 2019.

The Festival will showcase artworks produced at the Welcome Creative Hub — a
series of cross-generational and cross-cultural public workshops facilitated by well-
established artists and filmmakers from a refugee background — and become a
permanent art installation featured at the Centre.

The project is run by CRWC in close collaboration with Settlement Services
International (SSI) and Inner West Council (IWC) and uses a fresh and innovative
approach to creative engagement. Established artists and filmmakers that are driving
the workshops include Majid Rabet, Ali Al Azeez, Mohammed Alanezi and Elham
Marvi.

The full-day public program of activities is led by newly arrived artists and will feature
live performances, including the finale of Homelands — an interstate music tour that
is produced by SSI in partnership with BEMAC (QLD) and celebrates cultural
diversity through the promotion of unity, harmony and inclusiveness.

Multicultural food stalls, including local businesses from Ignite® Small Business
Start-ups, IgniteAbility® and Sydney’s well-known Addison Road Street Food
Markets, will be available.