Global Forum on Migration and development this week in Istanbul. Marcel Schreur to inspire world leaders through art.

Around 150 countries will gather from 14 to 16 October 2015 in Istanbul for the 8th Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Summit Meeting taking place under the Chairmanship of Turkey, as represented by H.E. Feridun Hadi Sinirlioğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Turkish GFMD Summit comes in the wake of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and amidst heightened global attention on migrants’ plight.

More info: http://www.gfmd.org

Marcel Schreur, amongst other migrant international artists, is hoping to inspire world leaders through an art exhibition at this important venue. The original Dutch artist, living and working in London, is a migrant. He moved from Holland to the UK in 2010.  He says "It is quite incredible to think that three of my works are part of an art exhibition at the UN-Global forum on Migration and Development in Istanbul this week. Deeply honoured, I am. Especially in these turbulent times I feel, very much, connected with all people desperately and forcibly on the move. So vulnerable, they all are. My thoughts go out to them. At heart we are all migrants."

Three of his paintings will be shown. "You're never alone!", "Life is beautiful" and "Family Life". Colouring up the venue. Marcel refuses to give into negativity and bad behaviour.  Spreading good energy, underpinning his motto in life "Life is beautiful. Always."

As a fellow migrant he states during this exhibition:

Centuries back my family migrated. Moving from Germany to Holland. At the turn of the last of the century my fathers, father, father, a very poor farmers hand, moved with his family of 10 children, from the North to the East of the Netherlands. Because of poverty and the opportunity to work. They prospered, settled and now see them selves as an autonomously regional family. They are not. They are descendants from a migrant family.
I migrated with my own family from Holland, via Germany to the UK in 2010. Effectively to start a new life. Trying to root in unspoiled soil. In the Netherlands there was no opportunity left for us to blossom. Prejudice and persecution was our tale. We did not want to fight this any longer. It was killing us. We left. My family needed a new life.
We had nothing, but the love for each other, and not to forget, the opportunity to cross the channel to Britain. We had the freedom of movement. Britain was like a warm blanket. It provided us breathing space. It was a safe haven. It gave opportunity to my wife and children to explore and develop their newfound skills. A new life.
We are Brits now, with a Dutch heart. The British embrace and the experience of migration inspired me deeply. I became an artist. It gave me the opportunity to ponder, to dream. To act. And visualise core values in life through art i.e. We are all one of heart, one blood. In, desperate, need of each other. Always. We'll have to embrace instead of reject and act cross denominational and cross cultural.  Every single and unique life counts. Family life is precious. That hope is life and essential. We live in a complex, fragile and amazing world. Ultimately that "Life is Beautiful. Always".

Schreur is excited that these core values are voiced at this important Global Forum. 

More info on his thoughts and work can be found at www.mas-s.com