Welcome to Europe

Paste-up, acrylic and print on paper, 300 cm x 200 cm, Shoreditch, London, UK 2017

The sea stands as the final obstacle between despair and the fragile hope of safety.

Since 2011, the war in Syria has forced more than four million people to flee their homeland, seeking refuge in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, and, increasingly, further afield. Millions more remain displaced within the country, living in a state of constant uncertainty.

For many, the Aegean Sea has become the last wall to cross. In 2016, Syrians represented the largest group among those attempting the perilous journey to Europe, crossing from Turkey to Greece. Vast and indifferent, the sea is both passage and threat—its waves carrying the weight of countless stories, fears, and sacrifices.

In this work, the waves embody that overwhelming reality: the immensity of what must be faced, the unknown that lies ahead, and the courage required to move toward it—a willingness to risk everything for the possibility of peace.

A peace imagined, pursued, and held onto—whatever the cost, even at the risk of one’s own life.