Odyssey starts in Syria.
Souvenir One.
Maan, Aleppo
Maan is five years old.
He plays with his cousin Victor,
in the street outside his home, whilst his mother watches over them with a warm and protective smile.
He dreams of being teacher one day, just like his father Anwar;
a tall and imposing man withan air of knowledge and geniality.
He lives in a beautiful house, furnished with a colonial coffee table, billowing white curtains and a generous bath. These are Maan's favourite things.
Although Maan doesn't have any siblings, he hopes
to have a sister.
Anwar and his wife feel blessed with their little family, and are hopeful of what the future may bring.
One fateful day, Anwar returns home from teaching at the local school. Rubble, shards of glass and broken furniture lay where his house once was. An airstrike had hit the street.
Maan and his mother are dead.
AYA, TRIPOLI
Aya is twelve years old.
She is remarkably beautiful, with captivating dark brown eyes.
A mass of thick black curls obscure her face, as a sharp wind flurries around her. Aya apathetically shoves the curls behind her ears, and looks to her feet. She can sense her mother's apprehension and sorrow, although cannot fathom the reason why.
Her mother, Asma, recently fled a sexual slavery ring, where she was relentlessly raped. Aya can only conclude that her mother's sorrow, and previous absence, must be due to her inability to feed seven children with meagre camps rations.
Aya yearns to help her mother, in any way she can.
She eats a number of pellets of rat poison strewn about the camp. After a month in hospital, Aya rouses from her stupor and whispers to her desperate mother, 'It was one less burden for you maman, one less to feed. I wanted to die'.
The naive glimmer of youthful hope had faded from her eyes, leaving in its wake the tormented, vacant stare of an adult.
WE DEDICATE THIS CHILD SIZE BODY BAG TO
MAAN AND HIS FAMILY,
IN HOPING THAT IF HIS DAD HAD IT AT THE TIME,
IT WOULD HAVE SERVED HIM WONDERFULLY.
THE RAPE KIT WAS DESIGNED
ESPECIALLY FOR AYA'S MUM.
MAY YOUR DAYS BE BRIGHT AND HAPPY AGAIN.
WE DEVELOPED THIS SAFETY CUTTER
INSPIRED BY SARAH'S STORY.
IF ONLY YOU HAD IT THEN CHILD,
WE COULD HAVE GIVEN YOU FEW EXTRA MINUTES OF LIFE.
Sara is only ten years old.
She grew up in a tranquil farming village, on the foothills of Mount Hermon.
Her current predicament feels like a terrible nightmare.
All about her men are shouting to be heard above the crashing waves,
whilst women mutter prayers to frightened children.
Her breath catches in her chest, as the boat lurches and rolls.
As tears stream down her face, her father,
Elias, clutches her ever tighter.
This embrace provides little reassurance to Sara however.
Her cumbersome life jacket constricts her chest
under her father's fond hold.
For a fleeting moment, an eerie silence descends,
before the overcrowded boat capsizes,
throwing its precious cargo into the cold, dark water of the sea.
Sara clutches to her father, surrounded by her mother
and three young brothers.
Sara's desperate hope for survival rapidly dissipates.
Her life jacket isn't floating, but rather dragging her down.
Sara slips below the surface of the choppy water,
as her father's hands hopelessly reach for her to no avail.
She is too weak to fight the weight of the saturated paper
which fills the life jacket she prayed would protect her.
Sara never had a chance.
SARA,
AEGEAN
adnan,
moria
Adnan is thirteen.
Hopelessly and frantically, he clutches his phone
and proof of nationality.
He travelled here scared and alone,
having left his beloved family far behind.
His father was a prominent character
within the conflicted government.
In the dead of night, soldiers came to their house to deliver punishment for an unspoken crime.
They brutally severed his right hand, whilst Adnan watched through the guttural screams.
That was when Adnan's childhood came to an abrupt end.
His fraught mother, fearing for her son's life, called her brother in London begging for him to take in her child. Adnan's uncle agreed, and within a few days, the smugglers came.
Adnan gathered a few possessions,
said his heart wrenching goodbyes, then begun
his gruelling journey to a brighter future.
Once Adnan had successfully crossed the border,
he was left to fend for himself and find his own way.
It has been two months since he last heard
his father's words of advice or his mother's gentle laugh.
He tries to call them every day, but there is never a response.
Adnan doesn't believe he has a future without his family.
WE WANTED TO HELP ADNAN REMEMBER HIS FAMILY.
HOPEFULLY THIS MEMENTO LANTERN
WILL NEVER LET HIM FORGET
THE HORRORS HE LEFT BEHIND.
Souvenir Two.
From Lebanon.
To Aegean Sea.
For Souvenir Three.
Last Souvenir.
From Greece.
WE ARE
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
TO SOPHISTICATED ISSUES
DISCLOSURE
AS YOU MAY ALREADY SUSPECT
THE COLLECTION ISN'T REAL.
HOWEVER CURRENT REFUGEE CRISIS IS.
THERE IS OVER 5 MILLION PEOPLE
CURRENTLY REGISTERED AS REFUGEES,
WITH OVER 13 MILLION
INTERNALLY DISPLACED, STILL IN WAR TORN SYRIA.
CURRENT GAP IN FUNDING IS:
$4,200,130,158
IF YOU CONSIDER SOUVENIRS
AS TERRIFYING AND BARBARIC AS WE DO,
PLEASE HELP.
