by Dr. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, UCL and PI of Refugee Hosts Invisible (at) night: space, time and photography in a refugee camp If our perceptions of refugees’ experiences of displacement were based on photographs produced and disseminated by the UN, NGOs and the media, we could be forgiven for assuming that refugees’ daytimes are either seemingly … Continue reading Invisible (at) Night: space, time and photography in a refugee camp
Exhibited as part of the 2017 Venice Biennale, Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (Refugee Hosts' PI) and Yousif M. Qasmiyeh (Refugee Hosts' Writer in Residence) were commissioned to co-author this photo-essay for the Tunisian Pavillion's exhibition space, The Absence of Paths. You can see the original publication on The Absence of Paths here, and read Yousif's poem, 'In arrival, feet flutter … Continue reading Refugee-Refugee Solidarity in Death and Dying
On 10th March, the P21 Gallery hosted the Opening Night of Samar Maqusi's remarkable spatial installation, Space of Refuge. Samar is a PhD student at the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL), whose research in Lebanon and Jordan investigates the spatial production and evolution of Palestinian refugee camps since the 1940s. The installation implements a series of spatial interventions … Continue reading Space of Refuge: Opening Night
Photo Gallery: Burj el-Barajneh Camp, Lebanon (established in 1950) By Samar Maqusi, University College London Since the Syrian conflict erupted, Lebanon has experienced a large influx of Syrian refugees (circa 1.5 million people), as well as Palestinian refugees from Syria. Unlike Jordan and Turkey, Lebanon refused to build official refugee camps for Syrian refugees. This … Continue reading Photo Gallery: Burj el-Barajneh Camp
Photo Gallery: Baqa'a Camp, Jordan By Samar Maqusi, University College London Baqa’a camp in Jordan is one of six emergency camps established in 1968 to shelter Palestinian refugees fleeing the 1967 Arab-Israeli war; when first established, it sheltered around 18,000 refugees, on an area of 1.4 km2; this makes it the largest camp in Jordan. Today, … Continue reading Photo Gallery: Baqa’a Camp
Taken during the summer of 2016, these photographs capture the dual processes of mobility and immobility experienced by thousands of refugees as they have sought safety in, from, and through a range of spaces in Turkey and Greece. From the makeshift camps near Adana, to individual, familial and collective preparations to cross the Aegean Sea … Continue reading Photo Gallery: Camps, Traces and Communities in Transit
As individuals and families make their journeys across land and sea, they encounter diverse communities - communities of welcome, hostility, ambivalence - and also become parts of communities in transit, or even communities-in-becoming. These photographs were taken in and around the abandoned construction site of a five star holiday resort near Cesme/Izmir (Turkey). In the background … Continue reading Photo Gallery: Communities-in-Becoming
As is the case around the world, most refugees from Syria have been hosted in towns and cities in the global South rather than in isolated refugee camps. The following photos were taken in the Summer of 2016 in the urban context of Istanbul, which has recently become home to between 200,000-400,000 refugees displaced from Syria. … Continue reading Photo Gallery: Istanbul
It is often assumed that refugees are vulnerable and passive people who are dependent upon the assistance provided by states, NGOs and citizens. In contrast, my on-going research is examining how established Palestinian refugees and their refugee camp homes are adapting and responding to the arrival of thousands of refugees from Syria. Amongst other things, this demonstrates the agency of refugees as both recipients and providers of support in complex displacement contexts.
