Co-Hostings is a collaborative project developed with over 40 people seeking sanctuary from City of Sanctuary Sheffield’s community in collaboration with Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad, Arts Catalyst and City of Sanctuary Sheffield.

This last stage of the project brings to life a two-year engagement process that Bahbak undertook at City of Sanctuary and that was centred on issues around belonging, safety, and rootedness in Sheffield, and the role that English language and its translations hold. This process will lead to the creation of an illustrated English language phrase book, co-authored with the participants in 7 languages and illustrated by Danielle Rhoda. The drawings and illustrations accompanying the phrase book offer a nuanced visual journey into the stories, situations and desires that participants shared and co-edited over time – and will inform a series of new public artworks. One of these artworks has now been painted as a mural in the basement at The Sanctuary.

Each week, our basement at City of Sanctuary Sheffield hosts English conversation classes, arts and crafts groups, Zumba, community events, and more. It’s a space where people seeking sanctuary gather to learn, build confidence and a sense of belonging in a new city.

But while the space is always full of life, it hasn’t been fully fit for purpose. We’ve been missing the basic furniture and equipment needed to make it truly welcoming and functional.

That’s why we’ve begun transforming it. The new mural was painted using the illustrations Danielle developed from the voices and visions of those who use the space, weaving stories and aspirations into the foundations of The Sanctuary. It’s the first step in making the space more welcoming, beautiful, and reflective of the community it holds.