20 June 2017

‘Give a Home’: Massive global concert series will show solidarity with refugees

1,000 musicians to play at Amnesty International and Sofar Sounds events globally in September

Jessie Ware, Kate Tempest, The Naked and Famous and Oh Wonder will be among a thousand musicians performing in people’s homes in more than 200 cities globally for a first-of-its-kind day of concerts to unite people in welcoming refugees, Amnesty International and Sofar Sounds announced today, marking World Refugee Day.

The new concert series, called Give a Home, will take place on 20 September 2017 and will bring established and emerging artists together with refugees and local communities at over 300 shows in more than 60 countries around the world. Partners VICE and Facebook Live will promote and live-stream the concerts globally.

New Zealand will be among the first countries to kick off the project with gigs in both Wellington and Auckland.

“With more than 21 million people forced to flee their home country, the world refugee crisis is one of the defining issues of our era,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

“How we respond to it now will shape who we are for generations to come. This is our moment to defend the things that unite us and refuse to let fear and prejudice win.

“Music and art have always been powerful partners to the cause of justice because they share an ability to stir something deep within us. They help us to look beyond borders and see what unites us. That is why this World Refugee Day we are announcing the Give a Home concerts. The shows will be an opportunity to reflect on our shared humanity and strengthen our resolve to tackle this unprecedented humanitarian challenge.”

Among the artists confirmed so far are: Above & Beyond, Bad Suns, Band of Skulls, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Billy Bragg, Broods, Cosmo Sheldrake, DWN, David Arnold and Michael Price, David Wrench, Eliza & The Bear, ESKA, Fenech Soler, Flyte, Fossils, Frank Turner, Frightened Rabbit, Gorgon City, Gregory Porter, Grouplove, Hot Chip, Hudson Taylor, Indian Ocean, James Morrison, Jessie Ware, JP Cooper, Julien Baker, Kate Tempest, Kevin Ross, KT Tunstall, Lewis Watson, Lianne La Havas, Local Natives, Matthew Herbert, Megan Washington, Morcheeba, Nadine Shah, Ngaiire, Nigel Godrich, Nina Nesbitt, Nothing but Thieves, Oh Wonder, Paper Route, Parvaaz, Phoebe Ryan, POLIÇA, Public Service Broadcasting, Reverend & The Makers, Ritviz, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Rudimental, Sampa the Great, SK Shlomo, Skrat, Suli Breaks, The Fratellis, The Jezabels, The Naked and Famous, The National, The Staves, Tokio Myers, Toothless, Wild Beasts and Zero 7.

Music fans open their homes

Music fans around the world will be opening up their homes – the locations of which will be secret until closer to the day of the gigs – to host the concerts. Each event will feature performances from two to three music artists, as well as talks from activists to highlight the solutions people are working on to address the refugee crisis.

The concert series is a collaboration between Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organisation, and Sofar Sounds, a London-based company that specialises in throwing secret concerts in people’s homes all over the world. Sofar Sounds have previously hosted shows in venues ranging from back gardens in Cape Town to Cliffside lairs in Los Angeles, greenhouses in Tokyo, lofts in London, mansions in Mumbai, outback farms in Melbourne and converted schoolhouses in São Paulo.

“Give a Home aligns Amnesty International and Sofar’s vision of a global community united by the things that really matter, in the same way that Sofar unites thousands of people all around the world every day through a shared love of music,” said Rafe Offer, co-CEO of Sofar Sounds.

“On 20 September, the global music community will come together like never before to celebrate a more hopeful narrative, one that champions and celebrates the fundamental equality and dignity of all human beings.”

Fans will be able to apply for tickets from today – World Refugee Day – via: sofarsounds.com/giveahome. From the site, people will be able to select their city and the event of their choice to be in with a chance of winning two tickets. They will have the option of making a donation when applying for tickets.

The funds raised by the project will support Amnesty International’s work documenting human rights abuses and violations against refugees and pushing governments to find a sustainable solution to the refugee crisis.

Tackling the global refugee crisis

The refugee crisis affects the lives of more than 21 million people worldwide. Almost all are hosted outside the wealthiest nations, which simply aren’t doing their fair share to help. Currently just 10 of the world’s 193 countries host more than half its refugees.

Globally, Amnesty International’s I Welcome campaign calls on all governments to do more to ensure refugees are protected and able to enjoy their human rights, including by expanding safe and legal routes through which refugees can reach shelter, exposing deterrence policies that negatively impact the rights of refugees and ending the practice of detaining and returning refugees to places where they will be at risk. The campaign also aims to build grassroots solidarity with refugees, including through community-led programmes to sponsor refugees.

Here in New Zealand, Amnesty International is calling for the closure of Australia’s offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus Island, where they have sent thousands of refugees and people seeking asylum to languish indefinitely.

**ENDS

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