We’re pleased to share some exciting opportunities from our friends at Autograph, who have launched Acts of Solidarity—a large-scale participatory programme co-created with grassroots communities and artists from refugee and migrant backgrounds. The project invites exploration of identity, belonging, and community through artistic collaboration with people who have lived experience of migration and displacement.

The programme will culminate in the creation of new public artworks and a report focused on equitable, anti-racist practices in arts engagement.

Autograph is currently recruiting for two key roles:

• Project Producer
• Evaluator

These roles offer an opportunity to help shape a bold and inclusive model of cultural engagement. We encourage members of the MFI network—and others working at the intersection of migration, arts, and social justice—to apply or share with interested colleagues.

Deadline: Monday 2 June 2025 at 10am

Find out more about the project: Acts of Solidarity

Oak Foundation have now confirmed the £11.2m gift which will be used to create the MFI, a unique research and education hub focused on migration, hope and collaboration.

This grant represents the largest single philanthropic gift in Goldsmiths’ history.

Read the full story

We would like to invite you to join us for our next Migrant Futures Forum meeting that will be held in person at Goldsmiths on Thursday, 22 May, from 2pm,  in PSH 326.

As a reminder we will be alternating the Migrant Futures Forum between on-line and in person meetings.

In this forthcoming forum we will report on activities to date, provide updates on future activities, including the soon to be launched engagement awards and invite your input as we seek to further clarify and distil the vision and aims of the MFI.  It is also an opportunity to meet Sultan Doughan who has joined Mark, Mirca and Sue as the fourth acting co-director of the Migrant Futures Institute and meet others with shared interests and work in this area.

We are also pleased to announce that the forum will be followed by a lecture by Taran Khan, on Shadow Cities: Writing Across Borders.

Migrant Futures Forum and Lecture
PSH 326, Goldsmiths 14.00 onwards

Coffee / tea & cakes available from 14:00

14:15 – 15:15 MFI Forum

15.15 – 15.30 Comfort and Coffee Break

15.30 -17:00: Taran Khan, Shadow Cities

We do hope you may be able to join us and look forward to seeing you there.

You are warmly invited to the next MFI talk on 22 May 2025 at 15:30-17:00 in PSH 326, at Goldsmiths.

Taran Khan will discuss her journey from reporting in Afghanistan to engaging with Afghan communities globally. This includes setting up and running the Simurgh Centre, a cultural space for Afghan asylum seekers in Delhi, and reporting on Afghan artists in Hamburg, examining their creative responses to displacement. She will share insights from the writing workshops that she runs with women in Delhi and Kabul, and talk about her new reporting project that follows the lives of Afghan migrants in the UK.

Moderated by Sultan Doughan
Discussants: Marcela Pizarro and Najiba Rafiei

Taran Khan is an award-winning journalist and writer and the author of Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul. Her writing has appeared in Granta, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and McSweeney’s, among others. She has received fellowships for her work from MacDowell, Jan Michalski Foundation and Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council. She is currently Royal Literary Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Marcela Pizarro is lecturer in Media, Communications and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths. Marcela has worked as a journalist in international news and filmmaking for over 20 years. She began at the Associated Press and then went on to work at Al Jazeera English, most notably at The Listening Post, the channel’s media critique show. She has focused on the political economy, geopolitics and culture of the news media around the world. Her long form reports, documentaries and animations look at issues of race, gender and class and much of her work has been dedicated to histories of journalism in the Global South.

Najiba Rafiei is a member of Community Interest Company (CIC) in London, where she delivers employability training and support for refugees, helping them rebuild their lives and navigate the challenges of integration. Her lived experience of displacement as an Afghan-Hazara woman, who fled the Taliban in 2021 deeply informs her work. She is committed to creating spaces of empowerment and opportunity for others who have faced forced migration. She is also pursuing an MSc in Environment, Politics, and Society at University College London (UCL), where she continues to deepen her understanding of social and environmental justice.

The event will take place immediately after the Summer term MFI Forum (see separate announcement for details on this).

The Migrant Futures Institute (MFI) at Goldsmiths is recruiting for an Operations Manager – a pivotal new role as we prepare for the formal launch of the MFI. This post will play a key part in supporting the delivery of our research, partnerships, and public events.

We’re looking for someone with strong experience in operations and management – ideally in a research or higher education setting – with proven skills in administration, financial and budget management, institutional and external relationship-building, and delivering high-impact events for diverse audiences.

We strongly encourage applications from candidates from racialised and minoritised backgrounds, especially those with migrant, refugee, or diasporic experiences.

Full details here: Migrant Futures Institute – Operations Manager.

Deadline to apply is 8 May 2025, and interviews for shortlisted candidates will take place on 19 May 2025.