Art has always been a driving force in my life, and recently, I’ve become increasingly interested in how art intersects with refugee issues. This new focus has deepened my curiosity about how artistic expression can shed light on and address the challenges faced by displaced individuals. Take, for example, this image by artist Catherine Anyango, which is a detail from a drawing documenting refugee deaths in the Mediterranean. In 2023, it was estimated that 3,105 migrants lost their lives while crossing these perilous waters, with 880 casualties recorded by May 2024. The true number of deaths remains uncertain. Each individual in this artwork is represented by a hash mark—a tallying method where four lines crossed by a fifth signify five units, often used to keep count of ongoing events. This image captures only a portion of the full painting: the 2,600 lines were meticulously drawn by hand and then erased to signify each person’s passing, with the erasure marks evoking the dangerous, ever-shifting sea.

Source: The UN Refugee Agency

Image courtesy of Catherine Anyango