Gallery to display refugee art project

The 'dastarkhan' or tablecloth was created by Afghan women now living in North Yorkshire

Artwork created by Afghan women who fled their home to settle in North Yorkshire will be displayed at a Harrogate art gallery throughout Refugee Week.

As part of a six-week project at The Royal Pump Room Museum the women worked together on creating a 'dastarkhan' or tablecloth.

Artist Amelia Hawk, who ran the workshops with Harrogate and Knaresborough District of Sanctuary, described the project as "a coming together" of different communities.

"Eating together is a way of bonding in all cultures, it's an opportunity to learn more about one another, even in the smallest of ways," she said.

The group also worked with clay and glass painting to create crockery and other objects, to form part of the installation which will be displayed at Mercer Art Gallery until Sunday.

One of the women, Nahid, said creating the artwork had had "a profoundly positive impact".

The curator at the Royal Pump Room Museum, Karen Southworth

Museum curator Karen Southworth said: "We're so pleased that the museum and its stories have been a starting point for such a creative project to welcome newly arrived neighbours and share some of the rich history of their new home."

All of the women came to the country as part of the Government's Vulnerable Persons and Vulnerable Children's Resettlement Scheme after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.

North Yorkshire Council's executive member for corporate services, Heather Phillips said: "North Yorkshire is renowned for the warmth of its welcome and it is right that we open our doors to those fleeing war and persecution.

"Projects such as this help bring communities together and foster greater understanding and I would encourage people to call into the museum and take a look at what has been created in the spirit of togetherness."

The project formed part of a £25,000 scheme at the museum, funded by government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

It is part of the wider initiative of this year's Refugee Week, which has a theme of "community as a superpower".

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.