This month, Students Rebuild partnered with Choose Love, Counterpoints Arts and London-based artist Murugiah to create a three-dimensional window installation that sends a message of compassion and welcome to refugees for the UK’s Refugee Week (June 19-25, 2023).
Inspired by the artwork created by youth for the Welcoming Refugees Project, Murugiah collaborated with young asylum seekers from Compass Collective to showcase symbols of their experience in the design. The title of Murugiah’s piece is “Compassion” – a nod to the theme of this year’s Refugee Week.
“Compassion” depicts two colorful figures embracing with a hug. In the context of ongoing global crises, the invitation invites us to see how interconnected our world really is and how something seemingly ‘far away’ can impact everyone.
“Rather than having art that explored trauma, I wanted to create something more uplifting and positive about the refugee experience,” said Murugiah. “During a workshop I attended for Choose Love, refugees discussed what compassion meant to them. It was during that workshop where I kicked off my own reflection period that ultimately led to the design of the piece.”
“The goal of ‘Compassion’ is to evoke feelings and start a conversation on how we can be more compassionate to refugees across the world,” added Murugiah.
The installation was unveiled at the Southbank Centre in London to commemorate the culmination of the Welcoming Refugees Project. The project provided resources for classrooms to create art that generated a donation to organizations providing help to refugees around the world – organizations like Choose Love.
Students Rebuild partner Choose Love started in 2015 when a group of friends began collecting donations for refugees in Calais. The now global organization supports refugees and displaced people around the globe. Over the last seven years, they have supported almost four million people and funded 393 organizations across the world.
Choose Love engaged Counterpoints Arts – a leading national organization in the field of arts, migration and cultural change – to help bring Murugiah’s vision for the installation to life. Their mission is to support and produce art by and about migrants and refugees, seeking to ensure that their contributions are recognized and welcomed within British arts, history and culture.
“It’s amazing to see Murugiah’s artwork transformed into a 3D installation to symbolize hope, positivity and compassion,” said Students Rebuild Managing Consultant Alex Manuel. “We’re so grateful to Choose Love and Counterpoints Art for their partnership. Their work made it possible to create this piece of art that will bring joy to everyone who sees it.”
Highlights from the event and the completed installation are included below:
