The Nightjar Project
A movement for belonging, creativity, and change across homelands – brought to you by African Activities CIC
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Vision
We believe everyone deserves to feel seen, valued, and rooted.
As we follow the migration of the Nightjar bird between West Africa and the UK, we witness a remarkable journey that connects landscapes and peoples across continents — a journey that echoes the experience of so many.
The Nightjar reminds us that migration is natural: you carry one homeland with you, even as you put down roots in another. Every journey carries the place you leave into the place you reach — and belonging can grow in both.
Through art, storytelling, and community connection, Nightjar makes this lived reality visible and celebrates it as a source of strength. Rooted in the New Forest and Gonja, and reaching across West Africa and the UK, we nurture belonging locally and globally — for today and for generations to come.
Belonging
Everyone deserves to feel recognised and rooted.
Duality
We honour the richness of living with layered and intersectional identities
Regeneration
We plant for the future, culturally, environmentally and socially.
Creativity
Using art, music and story to bring joy, visibility and connection.
Equity
Tackling barriers and creating fairer spaces for all.
Download Our core values
How it Began
Nightjar began with a simple idea: this small migratory bird could give voice to a lived reality too often unseen. It is natural to move. Migration does not mean abandoning the place you leave, and it does not mean you do not belong in the place you arrive. Nightjar makes visible how so many of us live — between worlds, yet fully at home in both.
From the start, Nightjar has grown through community — gatherings, exhibitions, festivals and conversations in the New Forest and in Gonja. Each step has been shaped not by us alone, but with the people who join the journey. Nightjar is more than a project: it is a movement carried forward by stories, voices and creativity across two homelands.
Stories of Belonging
An older gentleman of mixed heritage told us how unwelcome his sister had felt in the New Forest. After seeing the Nightjar sculpture, he took photos to show her — so she might feel she could visit him, knowing there were others here too.
Families told us their children were ‘Nightjars too,’ grateful for a new way of framing dual identity with pride. Visitors described the drumming and storytelling as a ‘haven’ — a pause of joy and connection amidst the busyness.
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Mission and Approach
The mission of the Nightjar Project is to raise the visibility of both long-settled and newly arrived communities, to support and celebrate those individuals and the cultures they hold, and to share the richness and pride in the stories their experiences have created through meaningful art in all forms.
Through sharing our stories, we find connection. By listening to the lived experience of others we build bridges across cultures and perceived differences. The Nightjar sees no human made borders and neither should our humanity.
Building bridges takes all of us and we invite you to join us.
Our approach ensures Nightjar grows with, not for, the people it seeks to serve — centring equity, joy and long-term sustainability.
Nightjar is not a top-down project but a movement co-created with communities.
Co-created with artists, young people, and community members.
Rooted in indigenous knowledge, ecology, and lived experience.
Made visible through art, performance and storytelling across borders.
Featured Blog Posts
Nightjar Youth Board
Launching Nightjar Youth Work Nightjar is growing — and young people are at its heart. We’re thrilled to launch our new Youth Board, led by Nayah, to help guide Nightjar’s future. Alongside this, we are beginning three...
Drums, Stories, and Belonging: Nightjar at Summer Festivals
This summer, Nightjar took to the road, travelling from Thrive Festival to the New Forest Show, from the Mela to Camp Bestival. Everywhere we went, people joined us to drum, dance, and share stories. Highlights included: Families at the New Forest Show telling us “we...
A Movement Hatches: Nightjar Launch Exhibition
Exhibition & Nightjar Launch When we opened the doors to the Nightjar exhibition at SPUD, we hoped it would spark conversation. What happened went far beyond our hopes. Visitors told us: “It was the best exhibition opening we’ve ever been to.” “For the first time,...
Our Partners & Sponsors
