The Suitcase is an innovative and original student led art project which explores the concepts of loss and belonging through the eyes of sanctuary seekers from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Türkiye and Egypt.

The Suitcase exhibition ran from 3-10 March 2023 with each suitcase displaying a QR code which visitors were invited to use to access short films, by Red7 Productions, which detailed the sanctuary seekers’ lived experiences, their journeys to Norwich, and the emotive reasons for the objects they chose to share.

The Suitcase is the brainchild of Anastasiia Petrenko (Ana), a Ukrainian student studying MA International Development at UEA. Ana is one of the 2022-23 cohort of Sanctuary Scholars, who received a scholarship as part of UEA’s commitment to helping reduce the barriers to participation in higher education faced by those seeking sanctuary in the UK. The Suitcase was developed alongside other Sanctuary Scholars from a range of other countries, including Afghanistan, Syria, Egypt and Türkiye.

The video featured here is the first chapter, you can see the rest of the chapters here.