Tania El Khoury

Due to technical reasons this installation can't be shown.

STORIES OF REFUGE tells the story of three Syrian asylum seekers who recently fled Syria and attempted to seek refuge in Munich, Germany. The participants were:

* a twenty-six-year-old man who has been in Munich for seven months but has not yet been granted residency;

* a sixteen-year-old boy who had just arrived in town and was hoping to be granted residency before he reaches the age of eighteen so he could use a family-reunification clause and bring his family to Munich;

* a twenty-five-year-old mother of two who had been in Munich for two months, initially lived with another randomly selected family in the Yellow Camp, and recently moved into a room exclusively for her family in what is referred to as the »temporary camp« while they wait for their residency papers and a transfer to long-term accommodations.

All three of these individuals had paid large amounts of money to be smuggled into Germany. They survived near-death experiences. One of them was injured during a demonstration in Syria, and fled the country by means of a boat that ended up sinking in the sea killing half of its passengers. One of them had to walk from Syria to Turkey for hours on end with children in hand, another young relative who was battling cancer, and no water. Smugglers scammed all of them, lying to them, suddenly changing plans, simply leaving them behind—never prioritizing their safety. Tania El Khoury gave each of the three participants a small discreet video camera that they smuggled into their camps, and asked them to film a day in their lives as asylum seekers in Munich. She also also asked them to take her to their favorite spot in the city. The artist recorded an interview with each of them, which serves as the soundscape over the footage that they created.

From 25th to 27th February there will also be shown the installation GARDENS SPEAK by Tania El Khoury.