Ibrahim

Acrylic and print on paper, 100cm x 150cm, 2018

In 2015, thousands of people crossed the Mediterranean Sea toward Europe, fleeing war, persecution, poverty, and instability. Men, women, and children left their countries behind, carrying with them fragments of their lives, memories, and hopes for the future.

From the shores of North and Sub-Saharan Africa, overcrowded boats drifted toward Italy, carrying lives suspended between fear and hope. The Mediterranean became both a border and a passage — one of the world’s most crossed, and most deadly, migration routes.

Behind the numbers were individuals, families, stories, and the simple human desire for dignity, safety, and a future.

Ibrahim is from Niger. Years ago, his journey brought him from the city of Zinder to Italy. I met him in 2015 at Baobab refugee camp in Rome where we were helping and welcoming together the wave of people who just arrived in Italy crossing the Mediterranean sea. Ibrahim is now living and working in Rome.