Syria Cry: Photographs From A Refugee Camp

This event occurred on: 

Exhibition statement:

Over winter break, Bard Senior and Arendt Center Fellow, Zelda Bas, volunteered in one of Germany’s main refugee camps, the Lebach refugee camp in the region of Saar. Lebach has been a reception center for asylum-seekers and Germans from outside the country being resettled since 1958. As of today over 2,400 people are living there. The majority are Syrians fleeing the Assad regime and ISIS, but there are also refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans.

During her stay at Lebach, Zelda assisted with a variety of daily operations in the camp, from working with organizations that facilitate activities for refugee children, to collecting donations. She also conducted interviews with a number of refugees and led an investigation to establish the exact “route” refugees take from the moment they arrive at the camp, to the moment they are integrated in a neighbouring community.

Zelda’s root motivation for volunteering at Lebach and curating this exhibit is to raise awareness about the refugee crisis and act as a storyteller. Many reporters have been covering the chaotic and heart-wrenching arrival of refugees on beaches, but few have gone to refugee camps in Europe and reported on refugees' living conditions. What happens once they get off the rubber boats? What does it mean to be a refugee in 2016? What does every day life look like in a German refugee camp? Zelda’s experience and pictures offer a unique narrative of the refugee life. 

Opening reception:
Thursday, February 18th, 4:00-5:00pm
The Sussman Room, 2nd Floor
Charles P. Stevenson Library
Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Exhibition will be on view Feb 15-29