3,000 shoes, 100 million refugees, one three-year-old

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This article was published 29/08/2024 (716 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In 2015, a photo of Alan Kurdi went viral after the three-year-old boy drowned in the Mediterranean Sea while fleeing Syria with his family.

The image sparked worldwide awareness about the Syrian refugee crisis, leading to Canada welcoming about 25,000 refugees from that country.

Until Sept. 23, Winnipeggers who pass the Burton Cummings Theatre downtown will be reminded of his tragic death, and of the continued plight of refugees around the world, through Travel Safe, a new installation created by local artist Darcy Ataman.

The two-and-a-half-storey installation, which uses more than 3,000 shoes collected from refugees in the developing world to depict Kurdi’s image, was officially unveiled Wednesday in Odeon Park at the corner of Notre Dame Avenue and Smith Street.

Ataman, founder of Make Music Matter, an organization that uses music and art to help refugees deal with trauma, said he was inspired to create Travel Safe by a conversation with a young Syrian refugee he met in 2017.

“He told me he knew nobody was coming to save him,” Ataman said of the young man. “That conversation stopped me. It was heartbreaking.”

Through Travel Safe, Ataman said he wants to remind Winnipeggers not to forget people like that young man, and also the more than 100 million refugees or displaced people around the world today.

“Nobody wants to leave home. Do we think anyone wants to put their children on a homemade raft to cross a sea? I decided I had to do what I can to shake people out of their apathy, to find a way to bring (that message) home,” he said.

To make Travel Safe, Ataman canvassed his contacts in 25 countries for shoes from refugees.

“I told them to send me any old shoes they could find,” he said, adding that he offered to replace shoes for any refugee who gave up their only pair.

After receiving the shoes, Ataman painted them to create Kurdi’s image and then zip-tied them to a net attached to scaffolding. It took two 12-hour days to assemble the installation.

The piece’s border is made up of backpacks painted bright orange — the colour of life-jackets.

Along with the shoes, Ataman also asked for any other items people might want to share; these are hidden within the backpacks. They include such things as keys, handbags, handmade dolls from Uganda, and a selection of toys from displaced children who walked from Venezuela to Peru, a journey that can take up to two weeks.

“I was touched and humbled by the things they sent me. They trusted me with them in order to tell their stories,” Ataman said.

One refugee provided a photo of their missing and presumed-dead father.

“It was the only thing of their father they had left,” Ataman said. “I don’t have words for a gift like that. It shows how desperate people are to tell their stories.”

Ataman chose Odeon Park for Travel Safe since it is a high-traffic area.

“I hope when people drive or walk by it, the statistics can be turned into flesh-and-blood people, real people with real lives and real hopes and dreams. I hope it shocks a bit and provokes conversation and debate about what we can do to help refugees, to learn more and to take action,” he said.

Joining Ataman at the unveiling was Elizabeth Aluk Andrea, a refugee who came to Canada from Sudan in 1999. She encouraged the 75 or so people gathered for the event to stand in solidarity with the millions of people who are refugees or displaced from their homes.

Maysoun Darweesh, who came to Canada in 2012 as a refugee from Syria, said the installation can help people ask themselves what they can do to help refugees today.

Izzeddin Hawamda, who arrived from Palestine in 2009, said it was a reminder to call for an end to all wars, including the current conflict in Gaza, because of how they create refugees.

After finishing its run in Winnipeg, Travel Safe will be on display on the lawn of Parliament Hill in Ottawa in October.

Travel Safe was made possible by support from groups including the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation, Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba, Winnipeg School Division, Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Graffiti Art Programming and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. For more information, visit travelsafe.life.