About the project
This work is a reflection of five war related themes that I gathered in my research from people’s stories about their traumas and emotional wounds. Collages and quotes.
A representation of our stories, a recognition of the pain that remains with war survivors. The main focus throughout my project was to find a way to help people begin to heal. Reaching out for help outside ourselves has proven to be difficult and almost impossible, communicating such complexity to a therapist from a very different background in a very new language is very tricky and almost pointless. The other option would be the social support from family and friends, which is another missing factor in a refugee’s life. We came alone, or with very few people who also have their problems to deal with.
Hence came the idea to encourage an organic approach that we ourselves can do. Writing!
There is healing in wording our stories, as we begin to take them outside ourselves.
Writing though, does not come easy, especially to people under pressure to integrate and move on. Practical life matters take over.
So I sent a letter with an invitation to write one’s story. In it, with guidance from a therapist, I bring up some points about what we’ve been going through as war survivors, along with guiding questions to help people start writing.
I wanted to not just send an emotional letter, but also to take that interaction into a platform for people to find on FRAMBO website, and to offer them a copy of this artwork that speaks to their experiences, to encourage them connect and perhaps share their story or just write to themselves.
