Beginning in the 1960s, Munich was the arrival point of migrant workers from all destinations, and from there the “migrants” would be transported to their next unknown destinations. They had no say in where they would end up. In many cases, families were torn apart. Their new destination was a temporary camp where they were medically checked and behaviourally tested. From there, the factory was the beginning of their new lives.

Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011, Syrian refugees have been fleeing the brutality of the regime in Syria and searching for new destinations, Munich being one of them. Many of these asylum seekers arrive in Munich by land, crossing unofficial borders, through different European countries.

Tania El Khoury and Petra Serhal from Dictaphone Group collaborated with a group of Syrian refugees who had recently arrived in Munich. They gave each of these participants/collaborators a camera for a day, their only instructions being to film their daily lives in Munich and their favourite spots in the city. Together they produced videos that were presented in a public space in the city.

The three people who took part in Stories of Refuge and chose to remain anonymous are: a twenty-six-year-old man who has been in Munich for seven months but has not yet been granted residency; a sixteen-year-old boy who had just arrived in the city and was hoping to be granted residency before turning eighteen, so that he could use the family-reunification clause and bring his family to Munich; and a twenty-five-year-old mother who had been in Munich for two months, initially lived with a randomly selected family in the Yellow Camp, and recently moved into a room exclusively for her family in what she calls the “temporary camp”, where they wait for their residency papers and a transfer to long-term accommodation.

All three had paid large amounts of money to be smuggled into Germany. They survived near-death experiences. One of them was injured during a demonstration in Syria and fled the country on a boat that sank, killing half of its passengers. One of them had to walk from Syria to Turkey for hours on end, with children in hand, another young relative who was battling cancer, and no water. Smugglers scammed all of them, lying to them, suddenly changing plans, simply leaving them behind – never prioritising their safety.

Stories of Refuge is a compelling immersive installation. The audience and passers-by are invited to lie down on metal bunk beds and watch the videos shot by the asylum seekers.

Credits

Concept and Video Editing: Tania El Khoury
Devised with Petra Serhal
Videos shot by anonymous asylum seekers
Production: Spielart Festival 2013, Dictaphone Group