ART STANDS WITH REFUGEE CHILDREN
Young migrants in Switzerland illustrate inner journeys through creative self-portraits
Consider how you would portray an inner transformation in six photographs: a journey into your dreams, fears, or that which you consider alien to you. Now imagine what this might look like for a young refugee or migrant that travelled to Europe, crossing the seas and the desert under conditions nobody should experience – least of all an unaccompanied minor.
33-year-old Tigist – who came to Switzerland as a minor – starts out on a comfortable chair, smiling at the camera, surrounded by four people representing her mother, father, and two sisters in her native Ethiopia. In each subsequent photograph, another person disappears. As her smile progressively fades, she is seen holding on to her father’s hand, before he too is gone. The backdrop changes as the series progress, revealing a rising path lined with poplars and a villa in the distance. In the final photograph, she sits on the ground, back turned to the camera, facing the path ahead. Beautiful, hopeful, yet alone.
This compelling series is part of a recent project entitled , or “Others”, by , a multimedia artist working out of her studio at in Lausanne, Switzerland [1]. The aim was to provide a platform for young, creative minds to birth their own stories, and to establish an enabling environment for creative self-exploration and transformation. The project has received support from the UNHCR Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein as part of “”. It was launched on 20 June 2020 to commemorate . It is still showcased on the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency .
Working with these young refugees and migrants has helped their Swiss collaborators understand the different backgrounds, histories, and fates of those that are processed by the immigration system. Young adults and unaccompanied minors alike, the fortunate are given refugee status, while others with similar profiles may have their cases dismissed, or receive a decision of non-consideration. This latter group is in a particularly dire situation, as they are prevented from receiving the protection and benefits associated with refugee status. Tigist is such a case; unable to leave the country, yet unable to fully participate in it. The best she can do for now is to stay afloat through odd jobs, participating in creative workshops, and occasionally preparing local Ethiopian dishes for sale.
This series ultimately illustrates encounters with the self. Honest self-exploration and questioning are not easy, particularly when one has to face difficult experiences and images. It is a door to open with caution, yet through which one can find tremendous benefits. There is a subtle yet powerful relationship between images and reality, symbols, and truth. Transforming someone through costume, makeup, and background can change something real within them. Facing our fears can be “a form of exorcism”. Visiting that which is strange to us can help us gain new insight. Embodying our dreams can be greatly affirming.
The activity began with rich group discussions. Participants reflected upon themselves through the use of three guiding questions: What would you dream of being? What would you hate to be? What kind of person, people, or thing is the most strange or alien to you? Following the discussion, they explored the world of the studio with its costumes, props, and themes. Audrey then provided artistic and thematic advice, helping each individual come up with the outline for six photographs representing a journey through their chosen topic: an image-by-image transformation examining either a dream, a fear, or their conception of the unfamiliar. The final image often represented a kind of resolution.
It was a collaborative effort: every author of a photo series was assisted by the rest of the participants, and in turn became part of the team for the next series. Each participant started their sequence in their everyday clothes, and against the backdrop used by the previous participant. The process thus mirrored their own arrival in Switzerland – with each author thrown into a new, unfamiliar world, with only the clothes on their back.
It is remarkably mature work, often reflecting the paradoxical nature of the self. 22-year-old Eliseu from Angola grins as he eats grapes from a fruit platter, clothed in a golden tiger-skin jacket and red tights, garish white paint on his face, and a white Victorian wig. He wanted to explore his own “sٰԲ” wish as a child to resemble the beautiful, wealthy, and opulent white archetype that dominated Angolan television. He was also commenting on the two opposing "black or white" options he sees for his future. Depending on the opportunities his host country provides, he could either live as a good, honourable member of society or as someone who is forced to do whatever he needs to survive.
Whether facing a fear, exploring the other, or affirming our dreams, empowerment is the common result of this process. It can be seen at three levels: firstly within each participant on their own journey; secondly within the diverse team working on the project; and finally between the photographs themselves and external observers.
After completing her series, Samira – not easily given to new people – noted how comfortable she felt with this group that was openly and freely examining inner worlds together: “I felt like we had known each other much longer”. Crucially, she also felt different about her fear of the future: “I usually hate celebrating my birthday. This experience has made me look forward to growing older”. It also reinforced many participants’ hopes for the future, which – in contrast to the fantastic nature of the photographs – were often very simple: wanting to live “a normal life”, and to be “like everyone else”.
Connection – with the self and with others – also played a central role in this process. Participants first had to connect to their inner selves, giving rise to images and insights into their deeper nature that would not be apparent at first glance. In turn, this can help others relate to them. In a world where people are judged on superficial appearances – especially refugees, migrants, and minorities – this can help us see what is on the inside. Strong bonds were formed between the different members who collaborated on this activity, refugees, migrants, and non-migrant alike. Audrey uses the term “relais humains” (i.e human bridges, relays, or connectors) to describe these different connections. While recognizing that a single, short-duration project can have limited impact, the power of the collective, sustained, and local change through such connections and encounters can be significant. She hopes to see more of this in society [2], including people from all walks of life, artist, or otherwise. This could play an important role in successfully incorporating these young men and women into their new host country.
In many ways, these remarkable “children, survivors, warriors, and poets”, exemplify the role of art in society: to function as a kind of mirror; one that receives, reacts to, and re-presents the state of the world back to itself. Their symbolic transformations of inner and outer worlds are a form of reconnection with the self and with one another – human bridges across the gulfs that divide us.
About the artist
Audrey Cavelius was introduced to the unaccompanied refugees and migrant children by , a multimedia artist who founded , a socio-educational association organizing collaborations and training opportunities for young refugees and migrants with people in the creative sector. Her upcoming project – Un Abri (“A Shelter”) will start in October 2020. She will be working with a mix of young people from refugee, migrant, and non-migrant backgrounds at the theatre in Lausanne, focusing on developing a cultural space that invites different artistic disciplines, explorations, conversations, and opens the space to a broader demographic.
- Access to the
Prepared by Ameer Shaheed for the UNESCO Art-Lab for Human Rights and Dialogue
Italicized quotes represent the English translation of Audrey Cavelius’s responses in an interview conducted in French with Ameer Shaheed, and includes paraphrases of different participants’ words.
Photos: © Audrey Cavelius
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The “Art-Lab Talks” document the transformative power of the arts when vulnerable populations are involved in artistic creations.
On a monthly basis, each article will focus on a specific type of underprivileged people suffering from any type of exclusion (refugees, migrants, people living in post-conflict zones, and the most marginalized ones), and will highlight the process and the impact of such initiatives.
The “Art-Lab Talks” is a series of web-articles selected among a collection of ethical practices identified by the Art-Lab Platform consisting of “artivists”, i.e.: artists, heads of cultural institutions, practitioners, journalists, and researchers committed to those whose human rights are being violated.
The “ethical practices” take into consideration a series of “ethical principles” where the concerns of the vulnerable groups are at the core of the artistic practice, not to maintain them in a status quo, but to convey their claims for human rights and dignity.
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[1] This introduction was made possible by , a multimedia artist who founded , a socio-educational association organizing collaborations and training opportunities for young refugees and migrants with people in the creative sector.
[2] This will be the focus of her upcoming project – Un Abri (“A Shelter”). Starting in September 2020, she will be working with a mix of young people from migrant and non-migrant backgrounds at the in Lausanne, focusing on developing a cultural space that invites different artistic disciplines, explorations, conversations, and opens the space to a broader demographic.
© UNESCO
