Centre of Excellence for Heritage Innovation

Voices of Courage: Refugee Week 2026 at the University of Portsmouth

A celebration of home, belonging, and the human spirit

Refugee Week is a UK-wide annual celebration held every June, bringing together communities, organisations, and universities to honour the contributions of refugees and promote a culture of welcome and understanding. This year's theme is Courage, recognising the extraordinary strength and resilience of people who have been forced to leave their homes and rebuild their lives in new places.

At the University of Portsmouth, as part of this event, which has been funded by the University of Portsmouth Research Culture Fund, we are proud to mark Refugee Week 2026 with a special event that invites students and staff to come together, share stories, and reflect on what home and belonging mean to us all.

Join the main event taking place this Friday, 19 June 2026, from 11:00 am to 2:30 pm in the Portland Building. It will include an exhibition, an embroidery circle, a light lunch, an online guest contribution from Tom Green of Counterpoints Arts, two short film screenings, and an informal discussion.

This event is free but booking is essential: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/refugee-week-2026-tickets-1991181548613?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&sg=760b902cbb276ac68e800688dcdd0859b94d802f00c88ef863a6a69286a970cd1870c71867296cb8fcf8c2983c6b22d132f447cd2b59d60520b6f5c9b364e5b763add554f53431c95dbd731e12fb

See you there!

This event is organised by Majd Abuawad, Haneen Alkaraki, Marianela Barrios Aquino and Soudabeh Pashaei.

Tarek Teba
Portsmouth School of Architecture
University of Portsmouth CCI
Portsmouth City Council
Downtown Pompey
HIVE Portsmouth

We had a fantastic time exploring Old Portsmouth last week, keeping an eye out for items that represent Old Portsmouth, past and present. Having explored this historic part of the city, we took these items back to the Round Tower where our artistic collaborators Thaïs Verhasselt and Evagelia Hagikalfa guided us through the process of making these objects into cyanotype prints.

Missed this workshop? Don’t worry! We are hosting a couple more workshops in Old Portsmouth at the end of June – keep an eye out on our socials and website for more information.

This workshop is part of our ongoing ‘Placed in a Fortress City’ project, seeking to connect people with Portsmouth and reflect on their lived experience. Kindly co-funded by Portsmouth 100 and Portsmouth City Council, and is part of the programme.

We Are Pompey 2029
Portsmouth Creates
University of Portsmouth
HIVE Portsmouth
Tarek Teba

During the sweltering May bank holiday weekend, we had a fantastic time exploring people’s connection to Hilsea Lines in North Portsmouth. We loved seeing the photographs, objects and memories connected to Hilsea Lines that people brought to this event, and seeing these objects transformed into collages and photographic works, inspiring reflection and introspection.

This workshop is part of our ongoing ‘Placed in a Fortress City’ project, seeking to connect people with Portsmouth and reflect on their lived experience.

This workshop is kindly co-funded by Portsmouth 100, Portsmouth City Council and is part of the programme.

We Are Pompey 2029
Portsmouth Creates
University of Portsmouth
HIVE Portsmouth
Tarek Teba
Casemates Studios & Cafe

**Tomorrow!!**

Explore Old Portsmouth in a creative and interactive way!

Join our upcoming Creative, Family-Friendly Workshop at the Round Tower - Exploring Memory and Belonging in Portsmouth.

As part of the Portsmouth 100 celebrations, join us to take part in this creative and hands-on workshop exploring themes of memory, place and belonging.

This welcoming, family-friendly session encourages participants to reflect on personal and shared experiences, and how these connect to Portsmouth’s rich history and diverse landscapes.

Starting with a guided scavenger walk through this historic area, you’ll collect textures, shapes and traces of the past. These will then be used to create beautiful cyanotype prints and rubbings.
The session finishes inside the Round Tower, where we’ll develop the prints and reflect on the work created together.

🧭 27 May – Old Portsmouth Scavenger Walk & Cyanotype Workshop
📍 Meet at the Round Tower, Broad Street (PO1 2JE)
🕚 11:00am | Duration: approx. 3 hours
No experience needed – just curiosity and a willingness to explore!

Getting there:
Street parking available
Bus routes: N25 (Broad Street), 23, 3 (Cambridge Junction)

Register here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=fDBSAE1W3E-YeVpEbPbHRvGOdXWIRBdMgGIr1eVH1ilUOFgxR0pPM0ZETEJCTDlCQ1M4Qkg2NUdNTy4u



Tarek Teba
Portsmouth City Council
Portsmouth Creates
We Are Pompey 2029
Portsmouth School of Architecture
University of Portsmouth CCI
Portsmouth & Gosport History

Collage & memory-making workshop at Hilsea Lines

Join us on Sunday 24 May 2026 at 10am at Casemates Studios & Cafe (Bastion, 4 Scott Rd, Hilsea, Portsmouth PO3 5JH) for a creative workshop exploring personal and collective memory.

Bring along a personal archive — this could be a photograph, an object, a memory, or an article connected to Hilsea Lines. Using these materials, we will create collages and photographic works, transforming personal stories into new visual narratives.

This workshop invites reflection, sharing, and experimentation in a welcoming environment.

This workshop is kindly co-funded by Portsmouth 100, Portsmouth City Council and is part of the programme.

Duration: ~3 hours

Getting there:
Parking is available on site.
Public transport: Bus routes N2, 3, 21, 700 (stop: Copnor Road / Coach & Horses)
Train: Hilsea Station

Register your interest here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=fDBSAE1W3E-YeVpEbPbHRvGOdXWIRBdMgGIr1eVH1ilUMkdNTEJYUlJDUjcxU1MwTlBEOFM5UkRaUS4u

We Are Pompey 2029
Portsmouth Creates
University of Portsmouth
HIVE Portsmouth
Tarek Teba

Last weekend we braved the British springtime weather for a creative exploration of Hilsea Lines, bringing together place, nature and memory. What began with a guided scavenger walk through the historic landscape of Hilsea Lines, gathering textures, shapes and traces of the past, finished with a workshop at Casemates Studios & Cafe where the pieces were further developed into cyanotype prints.

If you are interested in creating art from place, memory and history, we have another workshop on the 24th May, keep an eye on our socials for more details.

This workshop is kindly co-funded by Portsmouth 100, Portsmouth City Council and is part of the programme.

We Are Pompey 2029
Portsmouth Creates
University of Portsmouth
HIVE Portsmouth
Tarek Teba

Don't miss this insightful exhibition from one of our funded projects!

IT'S BACK!

Catch the 'South Coast's Forgotten Railway Workers' exhibition at The Spring, - on now, until 1 June.

Pop in or make a special trip - find out more about past railway staff & their work, accidents & wider lives around !

Read more about the exhibition, and the 'Portsmouth Area Railway Pasts' project that produced it, here:
https://www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/finding-the-south-coasts-forgotten-railway-workers/

British Association For Local History - BALH Hampshire Community Rail Partnership Hampshire Archives Trust The Centre of Excellence for Heritage Innovation Portsmouth & Gosport History

The Centre of Excellence for Heritage and Innovation and the Portsmouth School of Architecture, Art and Design, University of Portsmouth, are proud to have co‑organised the International Workshop “Rural Heritage: Source of Inspiration and Driver of Development” (13–18 April 2026), in collaboration with the Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University (Egypt) and ENAU : Ecole Nationale d'Architecture et d'Urbanisme de Tunis,
Université de Carthage, and ESAD Tunis (Page Officielle).

Through inspiring research, creative exploration, and co‑design activities, students and academics from the three countries explored how rural heritage can act as a powerful catalyst for sustainable development. The workshop focused on three case studies across the UK (Fishbourne), Egypt (Burj Al Burullus), and Tunisia (Djerba Island), fostering comparative learning and cross‑cultural exchange.

We extend our warm thanks to the dedicated academics and students for their hard work, passion, and commitment throughout the workshop.

Huge congratulations to all the students for their creativity, critical thinking, and engagement. Their work powerfully demonstrated how rural heritage can inform innovation, design, and future‑oriented development.

This international collaboration was coordinated by:
- Dr Tarek Teba, Centre of Excellence for Heritage Innovation, Portsmouth School of Architecture, Art and Design, University of Portsmouth, UK
- Dr Nour El Houda Jouini, ENAU : Ecole Nationale d'Architecture et d'Urbanisme de Tunis & ESAD Tunis (Page Officielle), Tunisia
- Prof. Nevin Gharib, Faculty of Fine Arts, Alexandria University, Egypt

We are also grateful to our invited experts for their inspiring lectures and generous sharing of knowledge:
- Prof. Maria Luisa Germana (Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy)
- Prof. Alaa Elhabshi (University of Menoufia, Egypt).

We look forward to continuing to build international partnerships that place heritage at the heart of innovation, education, and sustainable futures.

We are thrilled to announce that we are supporting a project from Portsmouth Black History Group which has been awarded a whopping £68,645 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

This funding will enable the memories of members of the African and Caribbean community who came to Portsmouth between the end of the Second World War and the 1980s to be recorded, with this important heritage stored at the Portsmouth History Centre for current and future generations.

Read all about it here: https://www.port.ac.uk/news-events-and-blogs/news/university-supports-project-to-share-portsmouths-post-ww2-black-stories

The project is also in collaboration with, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth City Council, Royal Navy Museums and
Portsmouth Creates. It will feed into the city’s centenary celebrations and seek to boost its bid to become the UK City of Culture 2029.

We Are Pompey 2029
Tarek Teba
Portsmouth Historic Quarter
Portsmouth Museum & Art Gallery
University of Portsmouth CCI

University supports project to share Portsmouth’s post-WW2 Black stories | University of Portsmouth The Portsmouth Black History Group has been awarded a grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to fill a gap in the Portsmouth archives by documenting the experiences of the pioneering African and Caribbeans who made the city their home after the Second World War.  The £68,645 will be spent...