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Stories of Migration: Images of Exile and Hope in Refugee Art

Art provides an important and powerful means of expression for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Trials and traumas of migration including perilous journeys, arduous asylum-seeking processes and immigration detention, on top of the conflict, insecurity and persecution prompting that prompts migration and forcefully displaces peoples in the first place.

Many refugees and asylum seekers live in constant fear of deportation to the countries they have fled, which could result in facing uncertain dangers, or worry about the families they have left behind. While far from a solution to today's global refugee crisis of unprecedented proportions, art can be a powerful outlet to humanize the struggles, experiences and hope of refugees.

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A work called “The Journey” by Alwy Fadhel, an asylum seeker kept in Australian immigration detention for over five years. Fadhel's art portrays the psychological toll faced by migrants in detention, including anxiety, depression, homesickness, and trauma in an environment where other detainees may resort to self-harm. The piece is included in the Exile collection of the Refugee Art Project.
A work called “The Journey” by Alwy Fadhel, an asylum seeker kept in Australian immigration detention for over five years. Fadhel's art portrays the psychological toll faced by migrants in detention, including anxiety, depression, homesickness, and trauma in an environment where other detainees may resort to self-harm. The piece is included in the Exile collection of the Refugee Art Project. Photo:Refugee Art Project
“The life I lived in Colombia with my family,” a child's artwork depicting life before migration as part of the UNHCR series of words and drawings by Colombian refugee children in Ecuador telling their unique migration stories. Colombia has produced the highest number of refugees of any Latin American country due to conflicts and displacement in the country's civil war lasting more than five decades.
“The life I lived in Colombia with my family,” a child's artwork depicting life before migration as part of the UNHCR series of words and drawings by Colombian refugee children in Ecuador telling their unique migration stories. Colombia has produced the highest number of refugees of any Latin American country due to conflicts and displacement in the country's civil war lasting more than five decades. Photo:UNHCR
A pencil drawing on paper called “Dreams of Freedom,” a work by an asylum seeker in detention as part of the Exile series of the Refugee Art Project, an Australian organization that aims to give refugees a public voice through art as a form of personal expression.
A pencil drawing on paper called “Dreams of Freedom,” a work by an asylum seeker in detention as part of the Exile series of the Refugee Art Project, an Australian organization that aims to give refugees a public voice through art as a form of personal expression. Photo:Refugee Art Project
An instant coffee painting called “Endurance” by Alwy Fadhel. The technique of painting with instant coffee powder diluted with water was started by an Iraqi refugee in Australian immigration detention who enjoyed painting and used the resources available in detention to do so. He taught the technique to fellow detainee Alwy Fadhel, who became the principal coffee artist and contributed to making the technique a tradition inside the detention center where he was held.
An instant coffee painting called “Endurance” by Alwy Fadhel. The technique of painting with instant coffee powder diluted with water was started by an Iraqi refugee in Australian immigration detention who enjoyed painting and used the resources available in detention to do so. He taught the technique to fellow detainee Alwy Fadhel, who became the principal coffee artist and contributed to making the technique a tradition inside the detention center where he was held. Photo:Refugee Art Project
A drawing by a Colombian refugee child in Ecuador explaining why the family moved. The child wrote: “I always went to school, because that is the place where you learn. My father used to cultivate maize and sugar cane and my mother used to work in a shop. We were always a happy family. But since 'they' arrived, things stopped going well. This is why we are in Ecuador. We left our home because if we didn't leave our house within 24 hours they were going to kill us. But we try to be the family that we have always been.”
A drawing by a Colombian refugee child in Ecuador explaining why the family moved. The child wrote: “I always went to school, because that is the place where you learn. My father used to cultivate maize and sugar cane and my mother used to work in a shop. We were always a happy family. But since 'they' arrived, things stopped going well. This is why we are in Ecuador. We left our home because if we didn't leave our house within 24 hours they were going to kill us. But we try to be the family that we have always been.” Photo:UNHCR
An oil painting on canvas by an immigration detainee titled “Horror,” a piece included in the Exile series of the Refugee Art Project. Using art as a means of communication, the Refugee Art Project aims to raise awareness about the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers at the hands of the Australian state in immigration detention.
An oil painting on canvas by an immigration detainee titled “Horror,” a piece included in the Exile series of the Refugee Art Project. Using art as a means of communication, the Refugee Art Project aims to raise awareness about the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers at the hands of the Australian state in immigration detention. Photo:Refugee Art Project
A pencil drawing titled
A pencil drawing titled "Patience” by Majid Rabet, a work in the Refugee Art Project series Surviving Detention. The project aims to bridge refugees in detention with the broader community to allow refugees to communicate through their own voices in artwork. Photo:Refugee Art Project
An oil on canvas painting titled “Life in Detention” by Kamaleshwaran Selladurai in the series Surviving Detention by the Refugee Art Project. All works in the project focus on the unifying themes trauma, exile, hope, and endurance common to the experiences of refugees.
An oil on canvas painting titled “Life in Detention” by Kamaleshwaran Selladurai in the series Surviving Detention by the Refugee Art Project. All works in the project focus on the unifying themes trauma, exile, hope, and endurance common to the experiences of refugees. Photo:Refugee Art Project
A nine-year-old Syrian child's depiction of life before and during the conflict drawn at a school in Lebanon where social workers and teachers help children to work through trauma using role-play and art, which can be very revealing of the psychological impacts of war on children. “Sometimes they draw tanks or planes dropping bombs,” explained a program representative in the New Zealand Herald. “They draw people crying or bleeding. It helps us see what they have seen.”
A nine-year-old Syrian child's depiction of life before and during the conflict drawn at a school in Lebanon where social workers and teachers help children to work through trauma using role-play and art, which can be very revealing of the psychological impacts of war on children. “Sometimes they draw tanks or planes dropping bombs,” explained a program representative in the New Zealand Herald. “They draw people crying or bleeding. It helps us see what they have seen.” Photo:CFS
An acrylic on canvas painting titled “The Sri Lankan Army Bombing the Tamils” including in the Exile series of the Refugee Art Project. The project includes diverse contributions from women, men, and children, all refugees and asylum seekers from countries including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Iran, Burma, and Kurdish regions of the Middle East.
An acrylic on canvas painting titled “The Sri Lankan Army Bombing the Tamils” including in the Exile series of the Refugee Art Project. The project includes diverse contributions from women, men, and children, all refugees and asylum seekers from countries including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Iran, Burma, and Kurdish regions of the Middle East. Photo:Refugee Art Project
A Colombian refugee child's depiction of why the family was forced to flee to Ecuador. In Ecuador, 98 percent of the refugees hosted are from neighboring Colombia, where refugees have fled due to decades of internal conflict. Over 10 percent of the population in Colombia, 4.7 million people, are officially registered as internally displaced people.
A Colombian refugee child's depiction of why the family was forced to flee to Ecuador. In Ecuador, 98 percent of the refugees hosted are from neighboring Colombia, where refugees have fled due to decades of internal conflict. Over 10 percent of the population in Colombia, 4.7 million people, are officially registered as internally displaced people. Photo:UNHCR
A watercolor painting called “Running Towards Freedom” by Saad Tlaa in the Refugee Art Project series Surviving Detention. More than 500 pieces of art by refugees participating in the Refugee Art Project have been exhibited publicly in Australia since 2010.
A watercolor painting called “Running Towards Freedom” by Saad Tlaa in the Refugee Art Project series Surviving Detention. More than 500 pieces of art by refugees participating in the Refugee Art Project have been exhibited publicly in Australia since 2010. Photo:Refugee Art Project
A white ink on black paper drawing titled “I Love Freedom” by Saeed in the Surviving Detention series of the Refugee Art Project. The non-profit project exhibits refugees' artworks to the public to raise awareness and uses profits from any sales to support the refugee and asylum seeker artists, often sending funds to support families left behind.
A white ink on black paper drawing titled “I Love Freedom” by Saeed in the Surviving Detention series of the Refugee Art Project. The non-profit project exhibits refugees' artworks to the public to raise awareness and uses profits from any sales to support the refugee and asylum seeker artists, often sending funds to support families left behind. Photo:Refugee Art Project
An instant coffee painting by Alwy Fadhel called “The Scream.” Fadhel's art portrays the psychological toll faced by migrants in detention, including anxiety, depression, homesickness, and trauma in an environment where other detainees may resort to self-harm.
An instant coffee painting by Alwy Fadhel called “The Scream.” Fadhel's art portrays the psychological toll faced by migrants in detention, including anxiety, depression, homesickness, and trauma in an environment where other detainees may resort to self-harm. Photo:Refugee Art Project
A pencil drawing titled “A Life of Grief” by Ranjini in the Refugee Art Project series Surviving Detention. Using art to communicate personal lived experiences and difficult themes that might be challenging to express in words can be a step to coming to terms and deal with traumas. Art can also be a therapeutic form of relaxation for mentally-burdened refugees.
A pencil drawing titled “A Life of Grief” by Ranjini in the Refugee Art Project series Surviving Detention. Using art to communicate personal lived experiences and difficult themes that might be challenging to express in words can be a step to coming to terms and deal with traumas. Art can also be a therapeutic form of relaxation for mentally-burdened refugees. Photo:Refugee Art Project
An oil painting on canvas titled “Christmas Island Boat Tragedy in the Exile series of the Refugee Art Project. Art can be a relaxing and therapeutic practice for refugees in detention, but it cannot alone address the major mental health challenges faced in immigration detention including anxiety and depression, which can sometimes lead sufferers to resort to self-harm.
An oil painting on canvas titled “Christmas Island Boat Tragedy in the Exile series of the Refugee Art Project. Art can be a relaxing and therapeutic practice for refugees in detention, but it cannot alone address the major mental health challenges faced in immigration detention including anxiety and depression, which can sometimes lead sufferers to resort to self-harm. Photo:Refugee Art Project
A Colombian refugee child's representation of life before migration to Ecuador. The child wrote: “In Colombia there were houses, cars, schools, and trees. Now there is violence. Gangs try to round up children to make them bad children. They capture children and hurt them...I know these things because I heard it from many people. It scares us. It is much more peaceful here and I feel free.” Ecuador hosts the largest refugee population in Latin America.
A Colombian refugee child's representation of life before migration to Ecuador. The child wrote: “In Colombia there were houses, cars, schools, and trees. Now there is violence. Gangs try to round up children to make them bad children. They capture children and hurt them...I know these things because I heard it from many people. It scares us. It is much more peaceful here and I feel free.” Ecuador hosts the largest refugee population in Latin America. Photo:UNHCR
A watercolor painting titled “Touching the Dream” by Saad Tlaa in the Surviving Detention series of the Refugee Art Project. Refugee artwork is used to communicate the experience of immigration detainees to the public through the project, a political act to transcend the way refugees are shut out and excluded from public discussion and often misrepresented. It is a form of creative autonomy and resistance through art.
A watercolor painting titled “Touching the Dream” by Saad Tlaa in the Surviving Detention series of the Refugee Art Project. Refugee artwork is used to communicate the experience of immigration detainees to the public through the project, a political act to transcend the way refugees are shut out and excluded from public discussion and often misrepresented. It is a form of creative autonomy and resistance through art. Photo:Refugee Art Project
Published 17 December 2016
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