Update on Ahmed

Ahmed returns to Glasgow from an English detention centre - greeted by Alex Bowie and Nicky Bolland

The photo says it all!......this isn't the end of the line, but due to the herculean efforts of the folk from Govan, Ahmed is now back in Glasgow and able to finally prove his true nationality. Great efforts by everyone and good luck to Ahmed - Scotland is proud to have you back home.

Please Support Ahmed

Ahmed Abdullah was one of the folk who worked extensively on the NothingAboutUs project.....Ahmed now desperately needs the help of right-thinking people in Scotland and the wider UK.

Ahmed Abdullah

Ahmed was detained on Friday morning when he went to report at the UKBA reporting centre. He is now facing forced removal from UK for Monday 11th June on a Qatar Airways flight to Dar Es Sallam, Tanzania at 21.30 hours.

Ahmed was one of several men made homeless by the Y-People charity two weeks ago when he returned home to his flat to find his locks had been changed without warning after he had been to report at the UKBA on Brand Street.  Since being forced to leave his home he has been staying with a friend in Govan and trying to put his life back together  - see here 

Flags made by Govan and Craigton Integration Network and Alex Bowie for NothinAboutUs they spell out the message 'Do You See Us?' and were hung along the fence of the Showpeople's site in Water Row, Gova

This is a letter from Alex Bowie the artist who worked on NothingAboutUs with Ahmed:

On Friday, one of the young men who worked extensively with me on the flags and building our armada boat, Ahmed Abdullah, was detained at Dungavel Detention Removal Centre.

I have known Ahmed for about 4 years, and he is a very inspirational guy. We are about the same age and have had many conversations on the difference in our upbringings, and our hopes for the future. Ahmed has thrown himself into the community. He attended college for two years and took part in every course on offer to him. His access to college was stopped when he lost his government support, but he continued to be active. He has done courses with camcorder guerillas, taken part in the GCIN forum theatre group, and was very enthusiastic and a great contributer to Nothing Without Us. 

Hanging Flags in the Sun

Jimmy Stringfellow of the Showpeople helping hang the Govan and Craigton Integration Network flags

It was a fast and furious morning today as the two remaining sets of Govan Flags went up in quick succession

Alexandra Bowie working with the Govan and Craigton Integration Network - sited by the Showpeople Site on Water Row

One of the flags made by Fiona Fleming with Platforum

The full set on Govan New Parish Church

3 Sets of Govan Flags in Context

Screenprints by Bead and Blether Group in the window of the Hopscotch Theatre Company

Fiona Fleming with A board at Govan Cross

Meanwhile the Tallship sent its final message of the week

The codes for reading the flags are - here

26th April 2012

1. The FINAL Armada building workshop at the GalGael Trust - details here

2. RAFT BUILDING with Martin Campbell and Hannah Brackston (Nomadic Workshop)......11am -1pm....in the open at Govan Cross. More details - here

work-in-progress: the raft

3. Hoisting of the remaining Govan Flags....Alexandra Bowie and Fiona Fleming lead their installation crews to position 2 more sets of newly created flags.....Afternoon...Govan Cross (Govan New Chursh and Showpeople's Site)

'Gather' Flag by Fiona Fleming and Platforum

And finally.....Happy Golden Wedding Anniversary to  Matt Baker's Mum and Dad. Helen Macgregor and David Baker were married on 26th April 1962 in Ayr Old Kirk. Congratulations!!

Flags are beginning to fly...

As promised, signal flags went up on Water Row in Govan today.  Luckily we got them up before the weather turned!

Readying the flags for hanging

 Still sunny on the way to Water Row

 

Signal Flags created by Geraldine Greene & Bead and Blether

Look out for more pictures when the sun comes out again!

Exchanging Language

NothingAboutUs' Ingrid Shearer receiving translated texts from the Govan and Craigton Integration Network in the Pearce Institute

Ingrid next to the NothingAboutUs noticeboard in the halowed halls of the Pearce Institute

Ahoy! More flag making pictures from GCIN and Bead & Blether...

Our signal flag makers have been hard at work, and you'll be seeing the results flying on the southside very soon... In the meantime, here are some more pictures of them in construction. Featured below are Olivier, Ahmed, Sam and Assiata from GCIN and Gillian, Phil, Elizabeth, Katie, Sandra and Helen from Bead and Blether.

Flag Signalling - begins today!

NothingAboutUs shifts into a new phase this week - this starts with the first Flag message broadcast from the Tallship ....the rest is up to you - you have the flag code below to help you:

The flags on the Southside will start going up on Tuesday 24th April on 7 Water Row

Have a sneak peek at our Signal Flags...

Just a wee slideshow of our Signal Flag designs from Alex Bowie & GCIN, Geraldine Greene & Bead and Blether and Fiona Fleming & PlatForum.  More pics to come (including some of the work in progress).

We will be hanging these on Tues and Thurs this week on buildings in Govan, and the Tall Ship has it's own messages--a different one each day.

We will be publishing a 'Flag Code' so you can decipher these messages that each group chose this week--watch this space...

156 Refused Refugees Forced into Destitution in Glasgow April 2012

One of the Govan Flags designed and made by Asylum Seekers in Govan as part of NothingAboutUs

Really disturbing news reached us yesterday from people in the group that have been working with Alexandra Bowie to make one of the sets of Govan Flags that will be flown next week as one of the ways of communicating across the river. Please watch the video below which describes the desperate situation that 156 people now find themselves in - these are people who have come to our country because the situation was so desperate in their home country that they needed to flee to safety.

video - here

 A public demonstration has been arranged but the members of the Govan group have little faith in this - suggesting that it is 'always the same people  who go and who hear what they have to say'.....they are very positive, however, about the very different audience that will see their flags in Govan and hear their voice in that way.

Mail Art with The Riverside Museum

Curator of the Glasgow Museums' Communications Collection - Heather Robertson has contributed another strand to NothingAboutUs with the GOVANMAILART project.....folk from the Riverside Museum have been sending mailart to people in Govan....now the replies are starting to arrive - Check the blog - here