When the portrait session continued, Devlin listened to podcasts describing the conflict the sitter escaped from.
The second room is a nod toCongregation, with tiered portraits set up in a similar fashion.
These objects, also painted by Devlin, are items that hold significance for each person.
What was it like to arrive in a city so hostile to your presence?
To remain cast as an outsider irrespective of your desire to find belonging?
These are questions posed by Eshun inhis essayabout the project.
Left to right: Portraits of Ornella, Oleksandra, and Joeles
How do we break free of this dispiriting pattern of dehumanization?
To learn more about Devlin’s co-authors, read their stories on the UNHCR’s dedicatedCongregationwebsite.
Listening and reciprocity, shares curator Ekow Eshun.
Portrait of Ornella, detail
Portrait of Oleksandra, detail
Photo: Amer Ghazzal/Alamy Live News
Portrait of Joel, detail
Portrait of Nizar, detail
Portrait of Dennis, detail
Photo: Charlie J. Ercilla
Portrait of Dennis
Portrait of Nizar
Portrait of Ornella
