Calais, December 17-18, 2024
We would have been working with @medecinsdumonde in Dunkirk this week but, due to a serious incident, we necessarily shifted our focus to Calais. On both days we revisited the fields of large stones that look like art installations until you realise they are designed to prevent people on the move from finding somewhere to sleep. We also visited the beach from which England was clearly visible.
Play was a key word across the two days. Yesterday we met with @projectplayfrance which runs an essential play-focused project for children in northern France, and we discussed potential collaboration next year, and our shared interest in the ethics around use and reuse of materials and media in this complex border context.
Today we set up The Community Table in @calais.exilessc day centre for four hours. Our open access table in the busy space was used in various ways, people coming and going, volunteers joining, gentle relational moments taken up, left and picked up by others.
A group of eight friends asked if our table was about play. On hearing the affirmative, alongside relaxation, an opportunity to de-stress and conversation, the group members each settled into an activity, becoming immersed. One man made a small boat into which he placed miniature figures, his friends saying that many more people needed to be added. Last week, some of these men had been rescued from a small boat in the Channel which got into difficulties. Alongside, an intricate and warm living site was built with lights, an enclosure and all sorts of detail. Their play at the table was now finished.
Another group of younger men then settled at the table, noting the knitting taking place. It soon transpired that they had been taught knitting at school. Joined by an older Calais woman we were reminded of the words spoken by a man who had used the table many times previously: “The Community Table is like my grandmother’s house”. Within the busyness of the larger space, the knitting circle felt homely and relaxed, indeed it felt a little bit magical.
Words by Bobby Lloyd, Miriam Usiskin & Aida Silvestri.
