On the occasion of the “World Refugee Day“ on June 20, KISD – Köln International School of Design will be hosting the exhibition “Where Is Home?”. In different showrooms of KISD, visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about everyday life, hopes, dreams, and wishes of refugees and to reflect on the term “home“. This also includes a critical discussion on issues like flight, loss of homeland, identity, freedom, and human rights.
The exhibition, curated by Mariana Lourenco, KISD MA Integrated Design student,will serve as an occasion to better grasp the idea of “home“ from various perspectives and to foster dialog and exchange among people from different cultural backgrounds. Visitors will be provided with several installations featuring, among others, a tree of wishes, spaces for stillness and reflection, music, and writing letters or postcards to loved ones abroad. By hosting the “Where Is Home?“ exhibition, KISD – Köln International School of Design is referring to the “World Refugee Day“ on June 20. In 2000, this very date was declared “World Refugee Day“ by the United Nations.
UNHCR: 65 million people had to flee their homes
The terms of flight, migration, and home have been on mankind’s agenda ever since and have been of growing attention not at least since the beginning of the so called refugee crisis in the fall of 2015. In 2017, these items are still on the global agenda. According to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), there have been more than 65 million people in recent years that have had to flee their homes due to violent conflicts, violation of human rights, ethnic and religious persecution, or extreme natural disasters.