A few months ago, I had the pleasure of speaking to Humaira, a volunteer at Qisetna, about the work the organisation does supporting art and preserving the heritage of people in the Syrian Diaspora. We also spoke to Juan delGado, co-founder and creative producer of this award-winning organisation which started in 2013 with the main purpose of connecting Syrians scattered across the globe, throough their common cultural and artistic heritage. This is the Heritage & Mental Health Podcast feed for Speak Up Radio, a brand new charity radio station launched by The Advocacy Project. Art & storytelling have a way of communicating complicated, ambiguous or highly emotional information, and are a brilliant way of building solidarity and giving people a voice. Creation is also very therapeutic – as we discuss, it can be a way to build a new relationship with past trauma or keep something alive that might otherwise be lost.
Luke Heppenstall-West (he/him)
Project Coordinator, Speak Up Radio
