Syrian Refugee Woman
The artist met this Syrian woman inside Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, home to 80,000 refugees.
Syrian Brother and Sister
The artist met this brother and sister in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan. During one of the art projects Hannah organised, they painted their experience of the war – the images they painted of tanks, soldiers, dead bodies, and destroyed homes were only a small glimpse into the trauma they’d experienced.
Syrian Refugee Girl
A young Syrian girl involved in the art project inside Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan.
Syrian Girl Drawing
Syrian Grandmother
Refugee Mother and Child
A Syrian mother and child the artist met in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, while organising the art projects.
Syrian Girl in Azraq
One of the Syrian girls who took part in Hannah's art project in Azraq refugee camp in Jordan, April 2015.
Aya
A young girl named Aya the artist met in Za’atari village in Jordan in 2014. Her family fled to Jordan when their home in the Syrian city Homs was destroyed. The Islimi design is drawn from 16th century ceramic tiles made in Damascus.
Refugee in Red Snood
A refugee living in the Sudanese community in the Calais camp; their shelters were torn down in the destruction of large areas of the ‘Jungle’ in March 2016.
Abdul-Rahman
In December 2015, while volunteering in the Calais ‘Jungle’, Hannah met Syrian Abdul-Rahman. Abdul is 15 years old; three years ago, he was at school, living at home with his family in Syria. Tragically, Abdul lost his whole family in an airstrike. He made the dangerous journey to Calais alone, hoping to be reunited with his only living relative in the UK.
Ahmad
Hannah was commissioned to paint Ahmad Al-Rashid's portrait by The Migration Museum.
Ahmad, a Syrian Kurd from Aleppo, sat for his portrait in April 2015. He was forced to flee the Syrian civil war and conscription into the army. His perilous journey to England featured in the documentary ‘Exodus: Our Journey to Europe,’ aired on BBC2 in July 2015. Ahmad has recently finished his MA at SOAS University in London.
The Arabic is taken from a poem by the Syrian writer Mohammad Al-Maghut:
Can I cry enough phosphorescent tears for my people to know how I suffer on their behalf?
Mohammad
Mohammad, a refugee from Darfur, whom the artist met in the Calais Jungle. For his portrait he is standing outside his shelter and home for the last four months. In his hands is his most treasured possession; a colouring book containing his beautiful Arabic poetry. One of his poems is included in this portrait painting and describes his flight from war in Sudan:
No, no, no to Injustice no
Homes … Burned
Mosques … Destroyed
Schools … Burned down
Men … Killed
Women … Widowed
Children … Taken
Money … Stolen
The youth … Displaced
At sea … Boarded
Some of them … Drowned
And others … Were taken
In Europe … Refugees.
Mohammad II
Mohammad is a refugee from Darfur who had been living in the Jungle for ten months. His hands were battered and swollen from clashes with the police, often involving tear gas. The Arabic graffiti around him reads ‘freedom’, ‘dignity’ and ‘humanity’.
Iranian Man
The artist met this young Iranian man in the Calais Jungle, patiently waiting in the bitter cold outside a makeshift clinic in the camp
New Arrival at Za'atari