Massive art installation in Winnipeg uses thousands of shoes from refugees to shed light on their plight

August 28, 2024 Canuck

A Winnipeg-born artist says he hopes a colossal installation will serve as a reminder to Canadians about the struggles of refugee children, who often flee to safety with nothing else but their shoes.

The Travel Safe Project art installation was unveiled Wednesday in Winnipeg’s Odeon Park, outside of the Burton Cummings Theatre.

The exhibit — which is 2½ storeys high — uses more than 3,000 discarded shoes obtained from refugees and displaced peoples in 25 different countries to depict the body of Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old Syrian boy who washed up on Turkish shores almost a decade ago.

Photos showing the boy’s lifeless body face-down in the sand, wearing a red T-shirt and blue shorts, were widely shared in 2015, putting a spotlight on the plight of Syrians making the perilous journey to safety amid war in their home country.

Shoes and backpack arranged on an tall outdoor display, some in the shape of a body lying flat. — The 2½-storey piece depicts the body of Alan Kurdi, a two-year-old Syrian boy who washed up on Turkish shores almost a decade ago. (Megan Goddard/Radio-Canada)

Darcy Ataman, the artist behind the project, spent time in both Syria and Turkey through his work as founder of Make Music Matter, a charity that offers music programs for people experiencing trauma, including victims of war.

“I was talking with some young people that just illegally, you know, fled across the border from Syria into Turkey as refugees,” Ataman said. “One of the gentlemen just stopped me in the middle of conversation and said, ‘No, you don’t understand. We know you’ve been seeing the images every day for last three years on TV. We know no one’s coming to save us and why.'”

The conversation “just made you realize … they’re not leaving because they’re having a good time,” he said. “Through no fault of their own, [they] had to flee and restart their lives.”

Shoes arranged on an tall outdoor display. — The exhibit will stay at its current location until late September, after which it will be temporarily installed at Parliament Hill. (Megan Goddard/Radio-Canada)

Monique Burke, who works in the settlement sector, reached out to multiple organizations supporting refugees to find the shoes used in the piece.

‘Running for their lives’

“As a mother, I have a toddler around the same age as Alan, so that strikes me immediately,” she said. “But also being in education, I work with refugee students. I hear stories from them and their parents about what they’ve gone through. So it connects with me on that level, too.”

Ataman also went to refugee camps he’s been at as part of his humanitarian work, exchanging people’s old shoes with new ones.

“When people flee, all they have is their shoes.… They’re literally running for their lives and they can’t come back. And that’s all they have,” he said.

The exhibit will stay at its current location until late September, after which it will be temporarily installed at Parliament Hill.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there were 117.3 million people in the world forcibly displaced at the end of 2023, an eight-per-cent increase compared to the previous year. More than 43 million were refugees.

Children's shoes hanging on a net — Ataman also went to refugee camps he’s been at as part of his humanitarian work — exchanging people’s old shoes with new ones. (Megan Goddard/Radio-Canada)

Ataman, who said there is less and less empathy for displaced people as the pressures of refugees on the countries receiving them increases, said it’s important to turn the numbers back into “flesh and blood people.”

“They’re all individual humans with hopes and dreams,” he said

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Canada News

Massive art installation in Winnipeg uses thousands of shoes from refugees to shed light on their plight

‘Running for their lives’

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