The Kurdish Diaspora, a collaboration between Red Door Studios and The Kurdish Dog Project.

An exhibition of work from Kurdish artists based in London and Yezidi artists living in Bajed Kandala Camp 2 just outside Duhok.

As well as raising money for Joint help for Kurdistan, the charity supporting Bajed Kandala camp. The project also provided an opportunity for conversation about Rojava, the de facto autonomous Kurdish region in northern Syria.

Rojava is an isolated region surrounded almost completely by hostile forces. However despite the brutal war with IS and other great difficulties it faces, a radical democracy is emerging. Systems of self-governance and democratic autonomous rule have been established and are radically transforming the area socially and politically. At the forefront of this politicization is gender equality and women’s empowerment, with equal representation and active participation of women in all political and social circles.

“We have established a model of co-presidency – each political entity always has both a female and a male president – and a quota of 40% gender representation in order to enforce gender equality throughout all forms of public life and political representation,” Saleh Muslim, former co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party, a driving power behind Rojava.

The Kurdish Diaspora project at Red Door Studios will be hosting some workshops over Summer 2018.

Short film of the exhibition opening by Elise Guillaume.