Upcoming Events:
Watch this space!
A tour of Stumbling Stones is currently being planned.
Past events:
Sunday 28th January 2024 at 6pm
Monday 29th January 2024 at 8pm
the Music Room
at the Royal Philharmonic, Liverpool
Follow this link for more information and to book your tickets
Klezmer-ish Stumbling Stones Project:
The journey of a family to discover its past. Merseyside writer Julia Nelki wrote Villa Russo as an act of witness and of bringing together the history and threads of her own family. This concert takes Julia’s voice and brings it to life on stage, taking us from the heart of Germany in 1750 to the high Andes, from outcasts to opera, from villains to a villa.
Thomas Verity clarinet
Rob Shepley viola/guitar
Concettina Del Vecchio accordion
Marcel Becker bass
Darren Abrahams tenor
Joanna Bending actor
Qais Attallah poet
Lorraine Mponela poet
Tuesday 11th April 2023
at the Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, Liverpool
7:30pm - 9:00pm
Entry is free but please book a ticket as we only have 140 seats.
We will be asking for donations at the end to help this project on its journey. Thank you.
Follow this link for more information and to reserve your place
With thanks to the Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust and the crowd funders
Stumbling Stones:
A collaborative theatre and music performance based on the book Villa Russo, with contemporary refugee voices.
Although the book is about the past, there are clearly resonances with the situation for refugees today and refugees will be participating in the show.
The performance will be directed by James Bonas and produced by Tina Ellen Lee of Opera Circus.
The music will link to the stories being told. Performers include the band Klezmerish, opera singer Ilona Domnich and actress Joanna Bending.
Online Event:
Responding to the needs of people seeking asylum; Dr Julia Nelki & Dr Alison Summers discuss their work with children, families and adults who are seeking asylum.
Thursday, 12 January 2023, 1:30-3:00 PM GMT
Dr Julia Nelki & Dr Alison Summers are co-editors and contributors with Dr Chris Maloney, to the recently published book Seeking Asylum and Mental Health: A Practical Guide for Professionals .
Their book is supported by an online resource.
They will describe and discuss some of the key issues which practitioners should hold in mind in contributing to mental health assessment and interventions with people seeking asylum in the UK.
The discussion will be facilitated by Adrian Sutton (Director, Squiggle) and will provide ample opportunity for questions and contributions from participants.
Thís is the second Public Lecture promoting the sharing of knowledge and experience about the needs of people seeking refuge and asylum convened by the Squiggle Foundation. We welcome all with concern for the welfare of asylum seekers and refugees and hope that people who have been in search of refuge and asylum, members of the public, those involved with the legal process and politics will participate along with practitioners with direct roles in mental health.
”… there are environmental conditions which destroy the feeling of freedom even in those who could have enjoyed it [and] a prolonged threat can undermine the mental health of anyone…” D.W. Winnicott (1969)
More than a Book Launch Event
Thursday 6 October 2022 at 6.30pm
Rethink Rebuild Society, Manchester
We explored issues affecting people seeking asylum and refugees, including:
How professionals and others can make a difference, even with limited resources,
How well-intentioned attempts to help might cause harm
How what clinicians write can affect asylum decisions, and people’s futures
Holocaust Memorial Concert
On 26 January 2019 a Holocaust Memorial Concert took place in the villa, with works by Ernst Bloch, Hans Gal, Franz Schubert, Mikis Theodorakis, Norbert Zehm and a Sephardic folk song. Performed by Barbara Toppel, Maria Shalgina, Alexey Naumenko, Norbert Zehm, Irina Zehm and Dietmar Sander.
Here Barbara Toppel, Maria Shalgina and Alexey Naumenko play Hans Gal’s Huyton Suite for flute and two violins.
Other images from the evening:
