Eleanor Brown is the CEO of CARAS, and has longstanding working relationship with Border Crossings. In this interview, Eleanor describes a range of projects that the two organisations have undertaken together, and places them in the wider context of migration. She emphasises the importance of co-produced narratives in arts work relating to refugees, and the role of theatre in providing "a platform for conversations to happen in a different way". In particular, she stresses how, in the tense context of 2026, human stories can help to overcome a generalised hate.
Tony Cealy is a Theatre-maker and Community Artist, who grew up in Brixton, where he is still based. He first became involved with Border Crossings as a volunteer on several iterations of the ORIGINS Festival, finding common ground between Indigenous artists and Black communities in the UK. He approached the company with plans to create a series of events to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 1981 Brixton Rising: 81 Acts of Exuberant Defiance. SONGSTREETS was a collaborative project that resulted. Tony worked with visiting Indigenous Australian musician Jessie Lloyd and Sound Artist Thor McIntyre-Burnie to create a guided walk that uses music to lead people into the history of Brixton's Black community.
Gordon MacLellan aka Creeping Toad, is a storyteller and celebrant, working within an animist philosophical system. Gordon was first introduced to Border Crossings by Graham Harvey at the time of the TOTEM LATAMAT project, and he became involved in the process of engaging communities with that work. He also conducted the Return to Earth ceremony at the Crichton in Dumfries, where he continues to visit the Totem and observe how it interacts with local communities and children. Gordon worked as a storyteller on the BOTANY BAY project, helping young people to relate to plants and gardens in creative ways that draw off Indigenous ideas about the natural world and animism.
Simon Shand is a Primary School Teacher, who worked closely with Lucy Dunkerley from Border Crossings to bring ORIGINS Festival artists and events into Cavendish School for Indigenous weeks. He recalls a whole-school haka, a Native American chef, the visit of the Zugubal Dancers from the Torres Strait, and many other Indigenous artists. Simon was also involved in the POCAHONTAS AND AFTER project, not only facilitating the work of pupils, but creating his own photographic self-portrait in response to the work of Edward Curtis. In a short coda to the interview, Simon shows a pendant that he was given by a visiting artist from Rapa Hui, also know as Easter Island. He mentions the tensions over the continued presence of the moai in the British Museum, which the pendant resembles.
