At Fabrica, women who migrated share the songs that take them home

One Song, an audio-visual installation by the British-Turkish artist Kadir Karababa, opens at Fabrica^1,2 on Duke Street on Friday 9 October and runs until 28 October. Entry is free and there’s no need to book.

The piece is built from songs chosen by women with personal experience of migration or seeking sanctuary. Each was asked for a song that takes her back to the place she first called home. The songs are performed in their original languages, with English subtitles.

Karababa began the project in 2022 and it has toured since. This version was developed with members of the Brighton community. Brighton Early Music Festival^3,4,5 and Fabrica are partners on it. Fabrica says the songs are “connected to family, language and everyday life”.

The idea comes partly from his own family, who moved from South East Turkey to London. His work covers painting, sculpture, installation and socially engaged practice, and draws on his experience as a working-class, queer artist.

There’s a free preview on Thursday 8 October from 6pm, with speeches at 7pm and the bar open. Sounds Like Home, the choir formed when One Song was made in London, will perform.

Later in the run, the writer and philosopher Philipp Blom hosts an informal coffee morning at Fabrica on Sunday 25 October, from 10.30am to 11.45am. The talk is about home, identity, utopia and hope, and the audience is welcome to join in. Tickets are £8 and include coffee and cake. The festival says a few late openings will be announced towards the end of the run.

One Song was first commissioned by Counterpoints Arts. The Brighton version is supported by Arts Council England and Counterpoints Arts. An archive of the songs is online at onesong.co.uk.

Fabrica, in a former Regency church, opens on Tuesdays from 1pm to 5pm and Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 6pm. It’s closed on Mondays.