SEATTLE — Art has the ability to express emotions, heal wounds and empower those who feel their voices are not being heard. With the help of globally acclaimed artists, Syrian refugee children are using art to share their stories with the world.

In December 2013, world-renowned photojournalist Reza Deghati traveled to the Kawergosk refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan and established Exile Voices, a project to bring reporting and photography to refugees. Deghati brought books and 15 cameras with him to establish a photography workshop, the Reza Visual Academy, for children in the camp ages 11-15.

Deghati explained the purpose of his Academy to France 24: “When I start a workshop, I used to say to my students that I’m not there to teach them photography but to give them a tool that will allow them to tell the world, in a universal language, their desires, their dreams, [and]their lives.”

There are currently over eight million Syrian children whose lives have been upended by the state’s civil war and are in need of humanitarian aid. Two and a half million Syrian children are now living in refugee camps or are on the road in search of safety. Even refugee children living in Kawergosk, having fled from the terrors of war and survived a grueling exodus, must cope with a limited water supply and a lack of health services.

Nonetheless, within the rows of makeshift tents, Syrian refugee children like 12-year-old Maya Rostem see the possibility of a new life. Rostem joined the Reza Visual Academy after following the group from afar for two days. When Deghati asked her why she was following them, Rostem replied, “I want to learn photography because I believe that with it, everyone can see what I feel and how we live.”

In August 2015, Deghati helped Rostem’s dream become a reality. Deghati, along with the UNHCR and the Mairie de Paris, organized a photo exhibition that featured the work of Syrian refugee children from Kawergosk.

The 370-metre long panorama lining the bank of the Parisian Seine River also included portraits of refugees, taken by photographer Ali Bin Thalith, and Deghati’s other photos taken over the past 30 years. The exhibition, titled “A Dream of Humanity,” was created to humanize the refugee conflict and share the voices of Syrian refugee children through visual art.

One of the most powerful images in the exhibition was taken by Maya Rostem. Rostem presented the image to Deghati upon showing up late to her first day of the photography workshop. The image was a pair of muddied and crystallized shoes. Rostem, embarrassed, said to Deghati: “My shoes were frozen; I had to wait to put them on.”

Rostem’s frozen shoes are just one example of the symbolic power of images. Images, such as those taken by the Syrian refugee children, can be deeply touching and inspirational. Reza Deghati is empowering people in tragic and vulnerable situations, like the Syrian refugee children in Kawergosk, to become the visual narrators of their own stories.

In a UNHCR news article, Deghati expressed his appreciation and gratitude for the opportunity to share the Reza Visual Academy with the world: “It is my pleasure and my honor that during my long photographer’s career, somehow, I shared the lives of these people.”

– Kristyn Rohrer

Photo: Flickr