Hey there, New Haveners. I’m coming to you all with a quick one this week: photos from a one-week only installation now on at Artspace New Haven. It’s called UNPACKED: Refugee Baggage and it is extraordinary. The brainchild of artist and architect Mohamad Hafez and writer, speaker and student Ahmed Badr, the show pairs sculpture and oral history to tell the story of 10 refugee families who came from different parts of the globe, all fleeing immense violence, and resettled in New Haven.
Around the galleries, Hafez has installed suitcases that open to renderings of blown-out homes, each accompanied by a pair of headphones. Slip them on, and you hear the refugee story that inspired it. Please go see this show before it closes. It’s well worth the trip.
