Iraqi refugees exhibit work, participate in panel discussion

On Friday, May 14, Intersections’ Megan Hoelle joined resettled Iraqi refugees, artist Kim Schultz and related experts in a conversation on the ongoing Iraqi refugee crisis. The discussion followed the art exhibit, Artists in Exile: Forgotten Iraqi Refugees in Syria.

Hoelle, director of Intersections’ Iraqi Voices Amplification Project (IVAP), visited Jordan, Lebanon and Syria last fall, where she listened first-hand to the stories of those displaced by war. The nonprofit organization Common Humanity hosted this public event at Second Presbyterian Church in New York City.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that of the more than 5.5 million displaced Iraqis, some 1.4 million have fled to Syria. With its domestic infrastructure already strained, the Syrian government can offer few resources or job opportunities to this vulnerable population. Common Humanity has worked with UNHCR to purchase each original painting from displaced artists working in Syria.

“Visitors to this exhibit will get a rare chance to see something of the heart and soul of several of the one million Iraqi refugees in Syria who have been largely forgotten by us,” said Mel Lehman, director of Common Humanity who traveled to Damascus, Syria, to obtain the paintings. “This exhibit presents a unique opportunity to see Middle East artists who were influenced both by their study of modern western art in school and also by the U.S. invasion of their homeland.”

The paintings were sold by silent auction, with the highest concluding bids received May 29.