dis[place]d: seeking refuge

Dis[place]d: seeking refuge is a two-part project that hopes to build empathy and understanding of and between two communities that have little contact: refugees and rural people, specifically in Ohio. We will have two art exhibitions and undertake a documentary process in order to highlight the commonalities between the stories of refugees today and of rural people ancestrally, for the purpose of situating the migration patterns of today within a long history of forced migration.

Tariq Tarey has been documenting refugees for over a decade. His simple aesthetic captures the humanity of his subjects, distilling an often politically-fraught conversation to a human level. Amanda Comstock has been advocating for rural people – especially those from her generational homeland of Tuscarawas County, Ohio – both in formal and informal ways. We have found commonality in how misunderstandings about the populations we work with (and are a part of) have led to negative portrayals of and behavior towards these marginalized communities. Sharing their stories and images in communities who do not know them is essential to inspiring compassion and empathy.

Funds will pay for the printing and mounting of photographs and text for the art exhibit at Tuscarawas County Center for the Arts, in Tuscarawas County, Ohio.