Migration Voices – How Creativity and Connection are Rewriting the Narrative in Wales
- Brainz Magazine
- Jul 2
- 4 min read
Entrepreneur, Female Empowerment & Mental Health Advocate Aleksandra Nikolajev Jones has for over two decades been transforming cultural connections, driving inclusivity & inspiring innovation through her productions, choreography, and fundraising, and cementing creative collaborations & partnerships around the world.
What happens when migrant women and girls are not only heard, but truly listened to? In Wales, a new wave of creative advocacy is shifting the balance from invisibility to visibility, from isolation to solidarity.
The roots of SHOUT Cymru
SHOUT Cymru emerged from the lived realities of migrant women in Wales. As a female migrant-led organisation, Gravida Collective has always prioritised care, storytelling, and creative empowerment. Over the past year, our focus has deepened in supporting women, girls, and mothers navigating migration, trauma, cultural displacement, and the fundamental need for community.
Through workshops, festivals, and grassroots dialogue, SHOUT Cymru became a bold space where voices often excluded from cultural life could be amplified through art. "Migration Voices" is the next chapter in this journey.
Migration voices – A new chapter
Migration Voices is a programme of creative advocacy and wellbeing that brings together migrant women and girls in Pontypridd, Cardiff, and Wrexham. These locations were identified through extensive community consultation, which revealed an urgent need for safe, culturally sensitive spaces for creative expression.
This project builds on the foundation of SHOUT Cymru by introducing new elements: intergenerational workshops, a "Young Voices" strand co-led by girls aged 12–16, and a digital archive to preserve the stories shared.
Creative process and participation
At the heart of Migration Voices is co-creation. Through storytelling, poetry, movement, and visual art, participants reflect on their experiences – often publicly for the first time.
We invite the body to speak. We honour silence, movement, and shared resilience. These workshops are not just about learning creative skills; they are about reclaiming agency.
Each story is important. Each participant becomes both witness and author.
Collective change
Each local programme culminates in a public sharing event. These aren’t polished performances – they are acts of courage, visibility, and cultural exchange. Behind the scenes, a digital archive grows – a living record of voices that will not be silenced.
Migration Voices aims to:
Improve participants' confidence, wellbeing, and social connection
Increase public understanding of migrant experiences in Wales
Support participants in developing leadership, advocacy, and creative skills
Embed migrant voices in cultural and civic spaces
This project is about community and transformation, both personal and societal.
What we’re learning
We use ripple mapping, feedback, and creative evaluation to assess impact. But beyond data, we listen to the stories migrant women and girls share and evolve our approach accordingly.
The youth steering group doesn’t just participate – it leads. The stories shared aren’t fixed – they continue to grow. And our future strategy develops through this ongoing dialogue.
An invitation to listen
This is more than a project – it is a movement rooted in compassion, dignity, and imagination. We believe that when we make space for stories, we make space for healing.
SHOUT Cymru: Migration Voices reminds us that everyone has something to say. And that when we truly listen, we all grow.
To learn more, visit here or follow SHOUT Cymru on social media.
You are invited.
Migration voices: An invitation to listen, create, and belong
What happens to our stories when we cross borders? Can creativity become a place of safety, resistance, and connection? In Wales, a growing movement of migrant-led art is asking not just to be seen, but to be felt.
What happens when we are truly heard?
SHOUT Cymru: Migration Voices is not just a project. It is a question, an invitation. As a female migrant-led organisation, Gravida Collective has long believed that storytelling, movement, and creativity are vital tools of survival and joy. Over the past year, that belief has deepened.
From Pontypridd to Cardiff to Wrexham, we have listened to over 80 migrant women and girls. We heard about isolation, silence, strength, and the desire to connect. Migration Voices is our collective response.
Can art become a safe place when society isn’t?
The project offers a year-long programme of creative advocacy and wellbeing. Through storytelling, poetry, movement, and visual art, migrant women, girls, and mothers explore what it means to live between cultures and how to find wholeness.
We create spaces where young girls aged 12–16 lead. Where intergenerational voices shape the narrative. Where silence is honoured, and movement becomes memory.
Who gets to decide which stories are told?
Each workshop is co-created. Each voice holds value. These are not art classes. They are gatherings of memory, resistance, and vision.
Participants become witnesses and authors. Their stories are shared through community events, and captured in a digital archive, a record of voices that will not be lost.
What does solidarity look like in practice?
Migration Voices seeks to:
Increase confidence, wellbeing, and social connection
Raise public understanding of migrant experiences
Support leadership and creative agency among migrant women and girls
Embed migrant perspectives in Wales’ cultural and civic life
What if this is just the beginning?
We use ripple mapping, creative feedback, and dialogue to evolve. Young people lead the “Young Voices” strand. Former participants return as facilitators. The archive grows.
An invitation to rediscover ourselves
What story does your body tell? What are we carrying that hasn’t yet been named? What becomes possible when we listen deeply, collectively, with care?
This is an invitation to everyone who has ever felt displaced, silenced, or unseen. We believe art can shift how we relate to each other, and to ourselves.
You are invited to listen. To move. To imagine. To co-create.
Read more from Aleksandra Nikolajev Jones
Aleksandra Nikolajev Jones, Choreographer, Producer & Fundraiser
Aleksandra Nikolajev-Jones produces for theatre, television & film, nurturing new talent, mentoring, coaching & collaborating with international & local companies, institutions, and authorities. She is a member of the International Dance Council, CID, recognised by UNESCO. Working with professionals, communities, minorities & vulnerable groups, delivering projects that empower individual and collective well-being, she founded The Gravida Collective, which explores creativity, womanhood, & community engagement through new & innovative initiatives. With over two decades of experience, she continues to champion cultural exchange, inclusivity, and innovation in the arts, business, and beyond.
