Home Music & Dance Day – Celebrating Milwaukee’s Refugee Communities

In 2023, the HOME Refugee Steering Committee at the Lynden Sculpture Garden begins our World Refugee Day celebrations on June 20, 2023, at Milwaukee City Hall. We then invite you to observe World Refugee Day in a series of outdoor events and programs at Lynden that celebrate Milwaukee’s refugee communities through art, food, fashion, and performance: World Refugee Day (June 25), Music and Dance Day (July 15), Craft Market and Fashion Day (August 19), and a final Craft Day on September 16. All events are free and open to the public.

For HOME Music and Dance Day, emcees Moe Aung of the Burmese communities and Tessy Sheidun of the Rwandan community welcome back returning performers including Congo Gospel Music Band (Congolese), Golden Melody Band U.S.A (Burmese), and C&K Music Band (Chin and Karen). Maggie Bushiri (Congolese) will perform Afro-Pop music in English and Swahili with her troupe of dancers, representing both East and West Africa. New performers include Spring Star Music Band (Burmese), and dancers Dian Novita (Indonesian) and Fizal (Rohingya).

More information and full artist bios here: https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/home-2023-music-and-dance-day

Bring your dancing shoes and learn some new dances: each dance performance will be followed by a participatory session.

Pack a picnic and a blanket to enjoy the outdoors with friends, family, and community. Or bring along cash to purchase food and refreshments prepared by chefs from the Burmese community.

PROGRAM
11 am – Golden Melody Music Band U.S.A. (Burmese)
12 pm – Fizal (Rohingya)
12:20 pm – Spring Star Music Band (Burmese)
1 pm – Dian Novita (Indonesian)
1:20 pm – C&K Music Band (Chin & Karen)
2 pm – Maggie Bushiri dance group (African)
2:20 pm – Congo Gospel Music Band (Congolese)
3:20 pm – Golden Melody Music Band U.S.A. (Burmese)

Program is subject to change.

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, a major sponsor of HOME 2023, will provide community resources, PHE unwinding materials, and health and wellness educational information.

For a complete schedule of 2023 HOME events please visit:
https://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/home-2023

Join us for more HOME 2023 events:
• HOME Craft Market & Fashion, August 19
• HOME Craft Market, September 16

HOME 2023 is sponsored in part by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, Refugee Programs; Anthem Blue-Cross Blue-Shield; Hanan Refugee Relief Group; Engauge Workforce Solutions; American Red Cross Wisconsin Region; Rotary Club-Milwaukee Amigos After Hours; Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition; Our City of Nations Conference at the Medical College of Wisconsin; and Milwaukee Public Library.

Additional partners include the Community Center for Immigrants; the Institute of World Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee; Jewish Social Services Madison; Madison Refugee Union; Tables Across Borders; UWM Libraries; Wisconsin for Ukraine; and Wisconsin Muslim Journal.

About HOME
The HOME Refugee Steering Committee is building a space of leading, coming together, and celebrating refugees. In 2019, we were able to realize our vision for HOME 2019 as a community-directed outdoor festival on World Refugee Day. Over 1,000 refugee community members and members of the public filled Lynden’s grounds. In 2020, we launched the HOME virtual platform to archive our past work and to house our new, year-round HOME programming. In 2021, we offered HOME as a series of dispersed events spanning the summer. In 2022 and 2023, HOME has continued to build partnerships in the community as it delivers virtual and in-person programs.

About the Lynden Sculpture Garden
The Lynden operates as a laboratory at the intersection of art, nature, and culture. Since opening to the public in 2010, we have worked with artists, educators, students, and our community to create, support, and share experiences that integrate our collection of more than 50 monumental sculptures and temporary installations, Lynden’s community of artists, and the natural ecology of our 40-acre site. The sculpture garden is open to art and nature lovers of all ages daily, 10 am-5 pm; closed Thursdays. Admission is free. Annual memberships are available.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.