Déplacé.e.s, 2022
In March 2022, shortly after Russian troops began invading Ukraine, JR traveled to Lviv, Ukraine to unveil a giant portrait of 5-year-old refugee Valeriia.
Visible from the sky, Valeriia reminds those flying over the country that there are civilians down there who need to be protected. Valeriia’s portrait then continued its journey in five other cities in Europe. Each rally gathers more than hundreds of people, coming to show their support to the Ukrainian people.
JR continued his Displaced project to draw attention to the difficulties faced by child refugees all around the world. He made a similar portrait of two children living in refugee camps: Kevine, in the Mugombwa camp in Rwanda, and Thierry in the Mbera camp in Mauritania. The lives of these children are also profoundly affected by war, climate change or social and political instability in their countries – yet, their stories often receive less media attention. To make other children living in these camps visible, JR organized in parallel an Inside Out action where he stuck pictures of the children’s faces on the walls of the camp buildings.
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