Shattered Image of Oneself

Shattered Image of Oneself comprises self-portraits made by twelve Syrian refugees and asylum seekers living in Denmark. Each participant photographed their reflection in fragments of mirror covering a satellite dish. Printed at bodily scale on fabric, the resulting portraits were suspended throughout the nave of Mariakirken in Copenhagen.

The fractured portraits evoke the ruptures imposed upon individual lives and communities by years of political repression, siege, starvation, forced disappearance, and displacement. They also serve as a reminder that Western media rarely, if ever, represent Syrians as a complete image: either victims or threats, Syrians are not permitted to appear as full, complex human beings.

The artwork was developed through a participatory workshop within Design of Necessity.