The Refugee and the Role of Art

The Refugee

Today, Europe and North America are sinking into crisis. Both continents are no longer able or want to accommodate millions of refugees because of its own internal conflicts. Immigration, refugees and racial issues are part of an important debate. People are creating deeper boundaries between them because of ethnicity, religion, cultures and beliefs. We constantly question our identity as a human race. To which group do we belong to and identify with? What if there’s none?

The focus is set on the journey from refugees’ persecutions in their home countries to camps. The hardest challenge is going through the process of being legally recognized as a political refugee or asylum seeker. This is the most mediatized part, ironically, creating a gap between our societies and the refugees. People turn a blind eye on the crisis because they feel disconnected from that reality. When in fact, there’s not really an us versus them. In case of persecutions or natural disasters, we would most probably do the same: to abandon our homes and risk our family’s and our own life to find a safer place to live no matter what could be the cost.

This crisis can be a daunting, disheartening, and confusing sequence of events to understand. People define themselves based on different factors, such as education, values, occupation, economic status, and religious affiliation. Having to flee the communities in which they were raised, refugees have to change many of these elements to acculturate into new societies. To turn from an individual with a recognised name, career, family ties and community connections, into the category of the “refugee” or the “immigrant” is unsettling. There’s a feeling of displacement, dissolution and non-belonging. After being uprooted, it is difficult to find that place of inclusion or acceptance.

The experience of being a refugee is one’s of invisibility, anonymity, lost of anchors, of home, of their identity, being unwanted, vulnerability and the hope or lost of hope. The reality of refugee camps is the removal of human basic rights.

The Role of Art

The insight and awareness created when viewers interact with the refugee experience in artistic spaces are important precisely because they have the power to shift political attitudes and preconceived mentalities, which are based solely on medias and stereotypes.

It shows the audience facets and aspects of the refugee’s experience in more than statistics and facts. To understand the crisis, the stories are crucial elements. It has the power to connect people in deeper levels than logic and reasons. Through art and people reaching out to refugees, they are no longer invisible or mere numbers or statistics.

Alfredo Jaar: It is difficult

Alfredo Jaar is a much celebrated artist, architect and filmmaker. His work shines a light on global injustices like homelessness, immigration, refugees’ crisis, genocides, etc. He brings attention to the invisible, the people that the media, the governments and general public don’t want to see. His works range from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Norway’s immigration policies, to homelessness in Montreal.

Through his installations, he juggles between video, photography and elements of theatre. Jaar is an artist who believes in the power of the image to change minds and ideas. He uses the visual to portray traumatic events in new insightful perspectives.

He uses art as a tool for social change and as a platform for dialogue. According to him, art is what we want it to be. He clearly emphasizes on the importance of cultural and historical context when creating a project. The point is to not act in the world before understanding it.

One project that resonated with me the most was on the topic of refugees.

As the EU won the Nobel prize for peace, it also became a fortress against immigrants. Many xenophobic and nationalist political parties in Europe are growing stronger. The immigration crisis is nothing new. As Jaar says, it’s only that the faces were black so they were invisible and nobody cared. For him, it’s about giving a new visibility to the refugees crisis.

One of his work is called The Gift. A white cube is given by volunteers to random people in the streets. When opening it, the instructions tell them to turn the cube inside out, revealing a reconstructed image of a beach near Bodrum, and a message to help MOAS. The Migrant Offshore Aid Station is an organisation working with drones to survey the sea. As the EU regulations do not allow anyone to approach refugees boats unless there’s a clear distress or the boat is sinking, MOAS found a way to go around that law using drones to send signal to Rome’s Maritime Rescue, from where the message is then transmitted to MOAS’ boats in order to save the refugees.

Valencia, Spain

Valencia was definitely the highlight of my trip around Europe this year. For ten days, I had the chance to experience it during the Fallas, an annual traditional celebration in commemoration of St-Joseph. During these festivities, the city’s streets get transformed with food trucks, tents, colourful artworks and crowds of locals and tourists. I was spoiled enough to be invited at a friend’s home during my stay, which allowed me to experience his daily life as a local and the best places to visit.

To name few of the highlights of Valencia, the Turia gardens and the Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias are a must when visiting. As a former river, it was reconverted in a sunken garden stretching from one end of the city to the other. As you walk through it, it reveals a serie of small parks, recreational public spaces, sports facilities, resting areas and the famous Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias, designed by Calatrava. As the noisy car traffic crosses above the old river, people wandering underneath it don’t bump into the traffic.

The Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias is an art and science complex composed of Europe’s largest aquarium, an oceanographic park, a planetarium, a science museum, a performing art center, and much more. The impressive futuristic design of the architectural ensemble justify its reputation as one of the twelve treasures in Spain.

Around the city center, the most important touristic places were the Mercado central (Art Nouveau public market), Lonja de la Ceda (old silk warehouse), San Nicolas church, the Catedral (Roman Catholic parish church), the Miguelete tower (Cathedral with a Gothic-style octagonal bell tower) for a great view of Valencia, etc.

In between the festivities, we visited green parts of the city like Monforte garden with its neoclassical natural landscape and the Botanical garden with its many collections of plants from all around the world. To rest from the noise and activities of the city center, these gardens are good places to relax.

Albufera was a great spot to see the sunset. Located around 11 km south of the city, it is freshwater lagoon and estuary on the Gulf of Valencia.

Starting March 15th, the main attraction was the Fallas, where monuments are burnt at the end of the festival. Each neighbourhood of the city has an organised association, called the Casal faller, with a specific artwork built over the previous year. Traditionally, people would throw everything that is considered to be old and not useful anymore, onto a bonfire every year. By doing so, the gesture symbolized a new start.

During those five days and nights, crowds in the restaurants spill out into the streets and explosions can be heard all day long from morning until late at night. Small children to elderly people are throwing fireworks and noisemakers in the streets. 

Mascletà

Mascletà, a coordinated fireworks show, takes place at 2:00 pm every day of the festival at the Plaça de l'Ajuntament. As during the day the fireworks are barely visible, the show is more about the noise. The louder, the better.

Nit del Foc

At night, the sky is filled with light and colour during Fallas thanks to the impressive firework displays. The spectacles bring crowds of people. The fireworks reach its peak at the Nit del Foc, a unique firework display celebrated in the early hours of the 18th. 

The traditional dress worn by "falleros" (men) vary from black trousers and jacket or decorated shirt with different patterns. Women’s handmade dresses can be very expensive, from 2,000 Euros to more than 20,000 Euros. The work behind the production of these intricate pieces of clothing is quite impressive. They are accompanied with traditional hair style and gold or silver jewelries.

Ofrenda

All the Fallas associations of Valencia parade through the city from their neighbourhood to the Plaza de la Virgen for a flower offering to the Virgen de los Desamparados, patron saint of Valencia. The bouquets of flowers become part of an impressive 15-metre high structure representing the Virgen’s cape.  

The Cremà

On the final night of Falles, the monuments are burnt as huge bonfires. La Cremà, the climax of the whole event, is quite an astonishing event to witness. Flames can go up to 20 meters high and the heat of the fire can easily damage the surrounding buildings. For security reasons, emergency services and firefighters are controlling the fires throughout the city that particular night.

Needless to say that Valencia was an amazing travelling adventure for me, from the fiery festival to the city’s historical treasures, Calatrava’s futuristic design and the local experience. I particularly appreciated the slow-paced rythm of living. People take time to enjoy life, and to cultivate the strong bonds in the community. Another destination to return to, very soon.

El Anatsui

For four months, Haus der Kunst is exhibiting an extensive collection of El Anatsui’s works. It comprises art pieces from the beginning of his career until now.

Born in Ghana, El Anatsui is an artist who’s proving that great art can emerge anywhere in the world. The comprehensive exhibition shows the immense works made of materials like used bottle caps, wood panels, and so on. He likes to play and experiment with whatever materials he can find. Despite their monumentality, they convey lightness and transparency.

The sculptures are a network of aluminium bottle caps tied together, giving the impression of a textile flowing on the walls. The patterns and colours reflect the traditional robe for the most important men in the African society: the kente.

In a way that can draw connections between consumption, waste, and the environment, El Anatsui generates meaning out of his material and technical process. The process of cutting, flattening, squeezing, twisting, folding and joining of thousands of these bottle caps, together with copper wire that weave together fabricated sections into a single work, reflects the creation of human communities out of connected individuals.

This piece was my favorite one from the whole exhibition. Not only because of its scale, but, also because of the labyrinth-like shape that allow visitors to be part of this artwork. Through the promenade, the curtains close or open up the path. It plays with the visitor, creating a sense of uncertainty, confusion and disorientation. It it said to enact life’s incertitude.

Overall, I certainly enjoyed the exhibition as I am truly fascinated by how the artist was able to integrate and connect the themes of tradition, culture, history to the ones of environment, materiality and architecture. El Anatsui successfully pinpointed these issues and topics in his artworks in compelling ways. It makes people think and reflect on it, which how I personally measure the success of any form of art.

London, England

London appeals to me as a city of ideas, innovation and imagination. I enjoyed the busy crowds and mix of cultures from all around the world.

For the few days we were there, we experienced a cold and rainy London, but it didn’t fade its vibrance and beauty. Walking through the streets, there was always interesting perspectives in every corner and intersection, like the Victorian and Regency style houses, remarkable churches and modern glass buildings. It seemed like the city managed to balance modern towers and industrial factories without disrupting the classical architecture and historical places.

The first day was a hectic one. We walked around the Westminster and Piccadilly area to see the obvious touristic places: Westminster Catholic Cathedral, the Abbey, the Parliament, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, the Piccadilly Circus, and so on.

Piccadilly Circus is a touristic public space in Westminster and a busy road intersection. It connects Regent Street and Piccadilly.

The Circus is located near to major shopping and entertainment areas in the West End. It is recognisable for its digital billboards’ pulsing lights and neon signs at night. The Shaftesbury memorial fountain and statue stand proudly in the center of the intersection. It is surrounded by the London Pavilion and Criterion Theatre.

On the second day, a bit tired but still very much eager to see as many places as possible, we went to Belgravia neighbourhood and, then, the famous Sky Garden.

Sky Garden was probably one of my favorite touristic spot in the city. It’s mind-blowing to imagine a three-storeys public garden on the 37th floor of a building, enclosed by a glass dome. And yet, they somehow did it. It is working as an observatory deck, an outdoor terrace and restaurant at the same time.

In a few days, we were able to quickly see some museums as the Natural History Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Modern and Design Museum as they are all free. The extensive collections of specimens, fossils, artworks and relics were absolutely stunning. I particularly appreciated that most exhibitions were very interactive and used different mediums to illustrate complex concepts or ideas. The downside it that the museums were very crowded, but if you have time, it is absolutely worth it of course.

Chinatown was a huge surprise for me. I believe it is the biggest one I’ve seen so far. The saturated red lights and colourful neons, the hanging lanterns and the delicious smell of numerous restaurants from all over Asia was the perfect place to end our day. We had dinner in a Malaysian restaurant hidden in an alley and I must say the food was pretty good.

Little Venice is a quiet and picturesque area marked by a canal running through the neighbourhood. It is at the intersection of Grand Union and Regent’s canals. A lot of boats were used as homes filled with domestic items (in a chaotic way), dishes, flower pots, solar panels, and so on. We went strolling in the morning while it was, surprisingly, sunny.

It was a nice way to end our trip, convincing us to come back to beautiful London, very soon.