Begun in 2022, this touring project brings together songs and stories contributed by women with personal experience of migration or seeking sanctuary. Built through participation and shared experience, this iteration of the exhibition was developed with members of the Brighton community.

Each participant was invited to share a song that transports them to the place they first called home. These songs form the heart of the installation, bringing together individual memories to create a collective portrait of migration, belonging and home.

The project is inspired by the artist's own family history of migration from South East Turkey to London, and by an interest in how songs travel across borders while remaining rooted in the places where they were first sung.

The songs featured in this exhibition are deeply personal, connected to family, language and everyday life, and carried across time and distance. For many contributors, singing becomes a way of reconnecting with places, people and experiences that are no longer physically present.

Together, these voices create a shared space for listening and reflection. While each story remains unique, common themes of movement, belonging, loss and connection emerge through the music.

Performed in their original languages and accompanied by English subtitles, the songs speak beyond translation. Through voice, melody and emotion, visitors are invited to connect with the lived experiences at the heart of the exhibition, engaging not only with the lyrics but with the universal feelings carried within the music.

By bringing these stories together, One Song creates space for voices that are often unheard, offering a powerful way of understanding migration through memory, music and lived experience.

One Song was originally commissioned by Counterpoints Arts. This iteration has been supported by Arts Council England and Counterpoints Arts. To view the archive of songs that make up One Song and to read more about work visit onesong.co.uk