Event Refugee-Lab / House of Refugees, Paris
From April 22 to 27, 2025, La Maison des Réfugiés in Paris became the stage for the inaugural edition of the R-Lab program, organized by La Transplanisphère and Singa Paris. This week-long event dedicated to arts and inclusion brought together social workers, artists, and European institutions around a common mission: to facilitate refugees’ access to non-formal education through artistic methodologies designed for vulnerable groups.
The R-Lab program pursued three main goals: opening inclusive learning pathways based on the arts, encouraging interdisciplinary exchanges between social workers and artists, and fostering intercultural dialogue among four institutions from three European countries focusing on artistic work with refugees.
Each morning began with participant registration, followed by targeted workshops covering diverse disciplines: African and contemporary dance with Ndam Se Na and Taïgué Ahmed; writing and theatre for intercultural dialogue with Oratio Mix, Noémie Besace, and Bruno Freyssinet; theatre to question migration and extremism with Theatre Makes Politics; and yoga and poetry for refugees with the Lotus Project led by Foteini Dimitriou.
Afternoons were dedicated to practical workshops with amateur and community groups from Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis, as well as roundtables and discussions about refugees’ artistic and social experiences. Evenings featured public artistic presentations, the launch of the books “Theatre Makes Politics” and “Lotus Project,” and convivial social moments, including a closing party.
A Day Dedicated to the Lotus Project: Body, Poetry, and Inclusion
Friday, April 25, 2025, highlighted the Lotus Project with a day entirely devoted to its innovative approach combining yoga and poetry for supporting refugee audiences.
The morning opened with a friendly project presentation, detailing its partnership and Erasmus+ support, followed by a dissemination session led by Foteini Dimitriou for about a dozen professionals involved in inclusive arts education.
Modeled on the Athens workshop, the session included: a breathing icebreaker with a poetic prompt (“If my body could speak, it would say…”), chair yoga exercises promoting presence and relaxation, a sensory exploration of poetry through reading, recitation, and writing inspired by bodily sensations, then collaborative exercises blending movement, breath, voice, and writing around a Maya Angelou poem. The session ended with a collective sharing and breathing ritual.
After a break, a practical workshop brought together a local amateur group from Seine-Saint-Denis, combining yoga exercises, poetic readings, and creative writing.
The day concluded with a public presentation of the workshop results, coinciding with the official launch of the “Lotus Project” book. This event highlighted the participants’ voices and creations and raised awareness about the importance of inclusion through bodily and artistic expression.
This Parisian R-Lab helped disseminate an original and accessible method, promoted collective practice with a vulnerable audience, and showcased the transformative power of the arts for social inclusion of refugees.
