But now, the small Melbourne community of Sudanese refugees have been given the opportunity to speak out. Based on the individual stories, dreams and hopes of these young refugees, they have created a one hour multimedia installation and hip hop theatrical piece called Under Construction.

Under Construction was put together by The Hope Group, an initiative of the Sudanese Youth Theatre and held throughout Refugee Week at the North Melbourne Town Hall. The week highlighted all the refugee communities of Australia and their daily lives.

Set in 2040, Under Construction is about how they see themselves in the near future. By this time in the future, the Sudanese community now would be older and their children would be immersed in Australian lifestyle and culture, but one thing that would keep them together is their background and the fact that they are refugees.

Theresa Tully, of the Tully Group and The Hope Group’s publicist, said that it is a “story of hope, progression and the importance of solidarity.”

Combining the traditional storytelling ways of Sudanese culture as well as celebration with music, Under Construction classically celebrates the individual as well as highlighting the uniqueness of their culture.

With criticism directed towards the community over the past year, such as Kevin Andrews suggesting that refugees were not integrating properly, Tully commented that the issue was deeply explored in the installation. “It is these ‘building blocks’ so to speak that show how these people fit into Australian society now and in the years to come.”

Coinciding with this year’s Refugee Week theme, A Place to Call Home, a spokesperson from the Refugee Council of Australia said that the theme “encourages people to think about the global themes of protection and human rights by focusing on the fundamental right to secure a place to call home, which is of course our mission statement ... [T]his piece of work produced by The Hope Group embodies that exactly.”

Over 700,000 refugees and humanitarian migrants that have made Australia their home over the last 60 years. While this is just one community group in Melbourne, Sydney’s Sudanese community are also proud of what they have brought to the table.

Hafiz, the community leader of Sydney’s Darfur community said that “what they have done is truly magnificent. It highlights the struggles that we have gone through and shows how we can overcome everything and become stronger together.”

All the proceeds have gone to The Hope Group, an initiative of the Sudanese Youth Theatre.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Dates and Times: 19th-22nd June at 8pm, 5pm on 22nd June

Venue: North Melbourne Town Hall

Tickets: $12.50 Adult, $8 Concession

More info: (03) 9685 5111