The Homeless Quarantine series from left to right:
1. It is hard to make plans for the future. I feel I can only think about tomorrow.
2. We need to overcome a lot of challenges to find our way together, but it is totally worth it.
3. Every two, three months I need to stress about where to sleep next. It is exhausting.
4. Why there is no solution? We Are Here.
5. Don’t turn your back on me.
6. My life is in the hands of others. That makes me feel weak.
7. I would like to go back, but as long as the country is in Hemedti’s hands, it can’t be considered safe.
8. I would love to have a girlfriend, but what do I have to offer? Nothing.
9. These guys are my lifeline.
10. I never experienced Ramadan like this.
11. I don’t want to live like this.
12. I pull the blankets over my head to create some privacy.
The Homeless Quarantine is a series of graphics created in collaboration with refugees in limbo – Mohammed Tom, Elhadi, Sami, Suleiman, Araby and Mahmood. These graphics create an imagery of how refugees experience the Corona crisis. The graphics show how the men fill the days, how they spend their nights in the night shelter, how they deal with fear of the virus, how they experience not having a home, how they relate to the care they receive, how they deal with the lack of future prospects, and how they continue to contact with their family back home.
These intimate and personal visual stories are confrontational, rich in contrast, painful, funny and real. They provide insight into a world that usually remains hidden.
Homeless Quarantine is made possible by the Amsterdam Fund for the arts, and presented in the online exhibition room Drawing Stories curated by Framer Framed.