In Touch, with Nature: Art by refugee and asylum-seeker women goes on display at University of Leeds
A new exhibition at the University of Leeds highlights the creativity of women from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.
In Touch, with Nature showcases artworks created during summer workshops as part of the University’s Welcoming Migrants programme.
The participants explored the University campus and collections, discovering connections between British art and design and the visual cultures of their home countries.
Inspired by items including architect and designer Owen Jones’ 1856 The Grammar of Ornament, Burmantofts tiles, and Helen Douglas’s fold-out book Within the Bloom, the women worked with Wakefield-based textile artist Ranya Abdulateef to create prints, textile works, collages, and reliefs that reflect personal journeys, memories, and cultural exchange.
Rachel Craddock, Learning Coordinator at the University’s Galleries and Cultural Collections, said the exhibition “celebrates the power of connecting with others, and the value of the different experiences and viewpoints that each of us brings.”
She said: “Each member of the group has encountered our exhibitions and collections with a completely unique lens.
“We’ve had so much fun discovering objects together and finding shared meaning in them. The women have bravely tried out new techniques inspired by their favourite things and can’t wait to share their creations.
“Through the group’s responses to art and architecture on campus and in the collections, we’ve all learned so much about our shared history of exchange and influence.”
The Welcoming Migrants programme forms part of the University’s wider recognition as a University of Sanctuary, offering scholarships, fellowships, and access schemes for displaced scholars and community members.
In Touch, with Nature is open to the public in the Small Exhibition Room at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Parkinson Building, University of Leeds, until 20 December 2025.