Refugee Week 2023: workshops and talks

Important information for visitors

Until summer 2025, there is a new visitor route at the National Maritime Museum while we carry out essential improvements to the Museum's roof. Most galleries will still be open as normal, and special exhibitions are currently free for all visitors. However, the Great Map and AHOY! will be closed for the duration of the works. Find out more.

Essential Information

Location	National Maritime Museum
Date and Times	Saturday 17 June
Prices	Free

Book drawing workshop tickets Book creative conversation tickets

As part of Refugee Week 2023, the National Maritime Museum is hosting a day of activities and displays that explore the experiences of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants and the importance of compassion.

Learn more about the free events on offer below, and find more Refugee Week events here.

The Swimmers - drawing workshop
Unfolding Stories - creative conversation

The Swimmers

A drawing workshop with artist Jay Percy

11.30am-1pm | National Maritime Museum | Free

Painting of a black mermaid — *The Atlantean,* 2023, acrylic on canvas by Jay Percy

During the workshop, the focus will be on the inspiring achievements of Yusra and Sara Mardini: two swimmers and refugees who took a courageous journey across the Aegean Sea to escape the devastations of war in Syria.

Yusra's participation in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a member of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team and Sara's devoted work as a volunteer lifeguard with Emergency Response Centre International (ERCI) are both remarkable feats.

We will draw inspiration from these courageous women while using oil pastels to create art pieces that exhibit their exceptional bravery.

Reserve a free place

About the artist

London artist Jay Percy (pictured) possesses a great love for the seen and unseen realms and reflects this lovingly in her feminine, nature inspired artwork. Using vibrant hues and lashings of sumptuous gold, she captures the joy of existing as an extension of nature in an increasingly concrete world.

Her work has been praised for its vibrancy, inspirational nature and empowering approach towards Women and African Diasporic Spirituality.

This event is part of Migration: a public history festival a series of lectures, exhibitions, workshops and walks around London, supported by the Raphael Samuel History Centre.