PROJECT
BACK TO SCHOOL
CONTEXT
In 2017, at the heart of the Emergency Accommodation Centre for Migrants (CHUM) in Ivry-sur-Seine, managed by Emmaüs Solidarité, a school was established to welcome children from refugee and migrant families. These children, often arriving in situations of extreme hardship and speaking little or no French, stay on average for around 40 days before being redirected to other facilities.
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In this context, Aide Humanitaire et Journalisme - AHJ sought to implement an artistic and educational initiative that would allow the children to express themselves, boost their self-esteem, and envision a fairer and more inclusive educational future.
OBJECTIVES
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Building on UNICEF France’s project “From France to Iraq, imagining the ideal school”, AHJ was invited to design and facilitate a participatory artistic programme with the children at the CHUM school, centred on the theme “My ideal school”.
Over the course of one week, AHJ led photography and painting workshops, supported by two committed professional artists: Shayda Hessami, photographer, and Paniz Yaghoubi, painter.
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EXPRESSION
Encourage the artistic expression and imagination of migrant and refugee children through photography and painting workshops.
PERSPECTIVE
Document the children’s perspectives on school — both the school they currently attend and the school they dream of.
EMPOWERMENT
Empower the children and enhance their visibility within a migration context that is often overlooked.
DIALOGUE
Create a public space for dialogue on access to education and the conditions for school integration.
RESULTS
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At the end of the week-long workshops, the children presented their artworks in the courtyard of UNICEF in Ivry-sur-Seine during a live collage event, supervised by the photographer Pierre Terdjman and the artistic collective Dysturb. The creations included five paintings representing their vision of the ideal school, as well as a series of photographs documenting a day at school.
This exhibition served to highlight the children’s voices and creativity, raise public awareness of their daily lives, and place their testimonies within a meaningful public space.
They Supported Us
