Babi Badalov is a regular at "Les Trois Frères." The bistro, run by three Algerian brothers, is handy - teeming with life and a few yards from the studio of the Azerbaijani- turned-French artist. It is also one of the few serving alcohol in Barbès, possibly Paris’ least "Parisian" neighbourhood, at least as far as the bohemian stereotype of the French capital goes.

The 59-year-old artist, has been calling the multicultural district home since 2011 when his asylum request was accepted. It was the end of a long quest to settle outside his native Azerbaijan where his sexual orientation did not fit in. He has since then become a French citizen - and he feels for the pressing social issues in the country.

“I am actually willing to join the next yellow vests protest, taxes are becoming ridiculously [high] every month. The current government doesn’t know what it means to [be] working class,” he asserts.

Such is Babi - radical views translating in radical art. His life is not that of a migrant who happens to be an artist, rather that of an an artist who happened to migrate.