Our story—
From participant to founder
Crossfade was founded in 2026 by Dmitrii Snegirev, a Russian-born DJ, creative producer and refugee based in London.
After arriving in the UK, music became more than a creative outlet. It became a way to rebuild confidence, find community and reconnect with a sense of identity after displacement.
As a participant in refugee arts programmes and DJ development initiatives, he experienced first-hand the impact that creative opportunities can have. They offered more than technical skills—they created confidence, belonging and community.
As his involvement grew, he was invited to help shape the future of one programme as a Co-Director. It was an opportunity that inspired excitement, but also raised difficult questions about what refugee-led approach and leadership really mean in practice.
How often are refugees invited into leadership with genuine ownership, influence and accountability - not simply visibility and easier access to public funds?
Why are people with lived experience so often consulted, represented or celebrated, but so rarely trusted to shape decisions?
What happens when a project ends?
Who supports artists after the workshop?
Who helps participants become facilitators?
Who helps facilitators become leaders?
Who builds the next generation of refugee-led organisations?
Two challenges became impossible to ignore.
The first was that many refugee artists are invited to participate, but very few are supported to progress.
Creative programmes often end just as participants begin to build confidence, leaving few opportunities to continue developing their practice, build sustainable careers or take on greater responsibility.
Crossfade was founded in response to these two challenges.
The second was that refugee leadership itself is rarely developed.
Leadership isn’t something people simply arrive with. It grows through responsibility, mentorship, decision-making, trust and experience. Yet very few programmes intentionally create pathways that help participants become organisers, producers, facilitators, directors or founders.
Too often, the very same people remain in positions of leadership, ofter without lived experience, while new generations of refugee artists remain participants.
What we believe
We believe participation should be the beginning - not the destination. Lived experience should influence decisions, not only programmes. Leadership can be learned. Creativity is more than self-expression. It is a pathway to confidence, community, opportunity and agency. We believe refugee-led organisations should not simply exist—they should grow, collaborate and shape the future of the cultural sector.
our vision
A cultural sector where refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant creatives have equal opportunities to create, collaborate, lead and build sustainable creative careers.
our mission
To support refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant DJs, electronic musicians and creatives through artist development, community, leadership development and meaningful long-term opportunities
our aims
Build long-term creative pathways beyond one-off projects.
Support participants to become collaborators, facilitators and future leaders.
Develop refugee-led leadership across the cultural sector.
Create paid opportunities for emerging refugee creatives.
Build partnerships without compromising community ownership.
Strengthen London’s refugee-led creative ecosystem.