A Coalition of Gestures And Typography, Is an investigation into the power of representation, personal experience and expression. Pain and atrocity are two things that are not to be confused when you face them. However, it is impossible to be shared with a second party.
Photographers from all over the world have been scattered around Europe, to capture the pain of the refugee crisis that has been so exposed and recycled in all social media. While photographers and photojournalists strive to capture images that are representative of this atrocity, the spectator glances and life goes on. This pattern of distance and disengagement is inevitable as relativeness is an illusion.
A Coalition of Gestures And Typography, reexamines the means of representation. What is the best way of representing ones story? Is it Visual, verbal or experiential?
From a more personal experience after spending a year working on a refugee project I came to the realization that stories need to be told from a more personal and vulnerable point of view.
The project focuses on the refugee children's lives and the ordeal of crossing borders at such young age. It is an attempt to bring the viewer a step closer to their experiences but also, a step closer to the experience of war.
Inspired by the House Tree Person (HTP) test, a projective test designed to measure aspects of a person's personality. The children were asked to draw their homes and families on a piece of paper with any color they preferred. The drawings are a form of art that reconnects the children with a child friendly habitat where they can convey their unmediated thoughts, feelings and emotions on a piece of paper.
