Verein MigrArt is an initiative of people who seek refuge and other BIPoC artists in Zurich, Switzerland. As a fundamental element of culture, art plays a vital role in bridging the divide between people of different backgrounds, identities, and affiliations. By recognizing the richness of art created by those in exile and those who have experienced racialization, we can enhance our understanding of their cultures and perspectives.

Over the past three years, MigrArt has organized various exhibitions, discussions, film screenings, concerts, and performances in collaboration with diverse national and international artists. Our goal is to create an inclusive and diverse community, where people from all walks of life can come together to share their artistic expressions and promote cultural understanding. We believe that by working together and sharing our creative visions, we can create a more vibrant and connected society.

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MigrArt Coordinators and Organizers :

Reya Morgado is a gender rights advocate, community development worker, radio commentator (Journalist) , musical healing artist from Philippines. she was exposed to different roles for a diverse of entities that honed her skills, work ethics and even social and political views. One highlight of her career as Youth Development Organizer, she founded KULTURA, a cultural organization wherein she provided art lessons that gave the youth  from different walks of life — students, out-of-school, and LGBTQ+ — to discover their Musical peaceful art prowess and are now living in their passion.

Viviane Lichtenberger has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and organizational communication. In the following years after her studies she started to co-organize events and was responsible for the communication work of different music formats and clubs, founded an own concert series in Zurich and was an editor at kinki, a former magazine. Until the end of 2023, she is working at Gessnerallee Zurich, as a curator in the program team with a focus on music and club as well as in the production team. In her work, she aims to explore, among other things, how we dance in the future, who we listen to, and why. She has a particular focus on the role of spaces in the context of music and club culture and strives to identify both the physical and social spaces required for these developments – listening carefully to what different collaborators have to say.

Siavash Namehshiri is a Kurdish composer, musician, collaborative sonic proposer, inclusive resonant mobilizer, curatorial cooperator, and community organizer from Iran, currently based in Zurich. Since seeking refuge in Switzerland in 2009, he has been exploring improvisation and contemporary electronic music. Over the years, he has engaged in collaborative projects and experimented with various artistic contexts in both studio and live performances. He pursued an MA in Electroacoustic Composition at the Art University Zurich. In his master’s thesis, he authored an essay that provides clarification on Co-Creation in the Margins, with a specific focus on sonic manufacturing.”

Maimuna Kinteh is an Afro-Swiss freelance artist and dj based in Zurich who works with media of video, fine arts, performance and sound. Along the way she is involved in activism around various issues. The focus of her artistic and social practice is collaborative exchange, questions about interpersonal relationships, bodies and environments.

Nistiman Erdede (*1979, Amed, North Kurdistan) arrived in Zurich in 2008 as a political migrant. From 2010 to 2014, Erdede was part of collectives formed by refugees. 2016 he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Advanced Theory, Department of Art & Media at Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK. Currently he is working on his Master’s thesis on the Lausanne Peace Treaty of 1923 in Transdisciplinarity at ZHdK. He curated the exhibitions “Fractured Spine” (2021), “Broken Constellation” (2016), and is involved in a wide variety of art, culture and research projects. He explores the relationship between history, memory, and emancipatory action in the context of involuntary emigration. His activist decolonial art practice serves as an exploration of overcoming personal and collective experiences of freedom deprivation. 

Delnia Rahimzadegan a passionate Artist from the Kurdish region in Iran based in Zurich. With a solid foundation in the world of architecture, she delved into the intricacies of design, structure, and aesthetics during her bachelor’s journey. She continues her study in transdisciplinary arts for her master’s studies. This combination of architectural precision and artistic creativity makes her a dynamic force in the creative world, where she seeks to bridge the gap between the built environment and human expression.