Home Sweet Home Exhibition

An article in The Observer newspaper on Sunday details an interesting upcoming exhibition due to take place at the House of Commons from 12 September 2011 and the the Riverside Studies from the 18 September entitled, “Home from Home”.  The exhibition has been developed by a charity, Women for Refugee Women, which describes the exhibition as :

the show is not about individual asylum cases but about the “importance of letting people know how difficult circumstances are for these women. The vast majority who come to this group have fled serious human rights abuses, including sexual violence, ethnic and political persecution. They are traumatised by the loss of their homes and families. And what is so awful about their experiences here is that the struggle to find asylum can traumatise them all over again; they have to negotiate a very complex system, and however real their persecution, they are very often disbelieved.”

Further details and a selection of the photographs can be found in the Guardian articles at :

Asylum life: the trials of women refugees, through their own eyes

Asylum life: the daily struggles of women refugees – in pictures

“Home Sweet Home” can be seen at the House of Commons from 12 September by prior arrangement (email admin@refugeewomen.co.uk for details) and at Riverside Studios, London W6 from 18 September

On The Run : Photography by Espen Rasmussen

A recent news posting on the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) website gives an intersting insight into the work of photographer Espen Rasmussen.  The news story is entitled `On The Run : Photography has a Voice‘ (*1)  and details the work of Espen Rasmussen in recording the stories of refugees and internally  displaced over a six year period over a six year period , from the refugee camps in Congo to those suffering displacement in Georgia.

Due to the heat Somali refugees sleep outside at the Mayfa'ah reception centre in Yemen. Between 100 and 400 refugees arrive at UNHCR centre every day

A selection of Rasmussen’s photographs are included in the article by the BBC’s picture editor, Phil Coomes, who states that :

These simple pictures, say so much: the powerless individual caught up in events beyond control or comprehension and those who are trying to work through a system of bureaucracy. Yet it also includes moments of hope and humanity as throughout the book the individuals come through.

Somali refugees who had just arrived on the coast of Yemen are crammed into a UNHCR truck before being taken to the Ahwar reception centre two hours away. In 2008 over 40,000 Somali refugees arrived in Yemen, bringing the total number close to 250,000

These images by Espen Rasmussen have also been included in a recently published book entitled Transit, which also includes an exhibition at The Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo.  The book is published by Dewi Lewis Publishing and further details can be found on their website at : http://www.dewilewispublishing.com/

Copies of Transit can also be purchased directly on Amazon via the following link : Transit Link on Amazon.

Ana Melinda’s 11 children are just some of the 30,000 IDPs who live on the outskirts of the jungle town of Quibdo on the western side of Colombia. Rasmussen was there in 2007. Melinda said: 'One morning several men knocked on our door. They wanted to take my 14-year-old son as a fighter. He wanted to go with them but I did not want him or any of my children to end up with the guerrillas or paramilitary. Our only choice was to flee'

From Congo With Love

Exhibitions

From Congo With Love (copyright: Rogan / Oxfam)

An exhibition by the portrait photographer Rankin entitled From Congo with Love is currently featuring in a large exhibition being held at London’s South Bank.  The exhibition has been develope din conjunction with Oxfam and displays “images and stories exploring romantic love, love lost, mother’s love and the kindness of strangers, as well as photos taken by Congolese villagers with Rankin’s guidance, providing an extraordinary insight into their everyday life.”  There is also a book to accompany the exhibtion entitled `We Are Congo’ which is available to purchase online.

Image Copyright: Rankin / Oxfam.