“The Residências Refúgio project, through the PARTIS programme, managed to create an artistic and social residency programme in depth with a small group of people, to work on their integration in a holistic way,” explains Marta Silva, artistic director. “We now have five artists from different disciplines who stayed for two years and are still living in this cultural centre.”

Among the residents, stories of displacement and reconstruction take shape through art. Abdul Wahid Khalilzad, originally from Afghanistan, describes the impact of the experience: “The migrants felt a bit lost in the lives they had here, because they didn’t know the laws, the culture, the way of life of society. Then they came here, communicated, learned from artists and did many things.” He adds: “I saw many beautiful things while working with this association, things I had never seen in my life, in Afghanistan.”

Artistic diversity is one of the project’s greatest strengths. Among the residents are painters, musicians, designers and textile artists. Sónia Sousa, a resident artist, speaks admiringly of Alice Mundele, another resident at Largo: “She doesn’t even need to draw – she goes to the sewing machine and makes fish, flowers and leaves, elements from the Congo.”

The work is based at Largo Residências, located in Jardins Bombarda, in Lisbon – a space where the boundaries between artistic creation and social engagement blur. “Our work is always to maintain a place where, through different projects and artistic languages, many people from the community, regardless of their origins or background, can come together,” adds Marta Silva. For Rasul Ranjbar, an Iranian artist in residence, the feeling is one of being at home, with “a big family.”