Angels Unawares: Sculpture Commemorating World Migrant and Refugee Day 🎶 Who Is The Immigrant? By Irie Souljah || APART
"Who Is The Immigrant?" is a question I've been asking myself lately, realizing certain changes made in our personal lives not so long ago and without having expected it, I received an answer during our recent trip to Vatican city.
After having explored almost all of the "must-see" sites in Vatican city and being ready to leave the city-state, a sculpture in a corner of the St. Peter's square came into my sight. Curious as I am, I felt the urge to observe it more up close and was hit with the realization of how current and ongoing the stories of migrants and refugees are.
"Angels Unawares" - is the title of the sculpture by Timothy Schmalz - was placed to remember the World Day of Migrants & Refugees (WDMR), because of the vulnerability of this group. It doesn't matter where one comes from in what century, people are leaving behind their homes and family because of war, social injustices, violence, persecutions, for better living conditions, etc. often with little to nothing and usually under perilous circumstances.
Looking at the sculpture, it's evident that the artist tried to include every type of refugee and/or migrant from whichever region in whatever circumstance and utilized every angle to tell the story as it's still occurring nowadays and not a "thing of the past".
Coming back to the question Who Is The Immigrant? the artist Irie Souljah tried to give an answer with the song with the same name. Here he sings about everyone's the same under the same sun and that there's no need for discrimination and segregation. We shouldn't speak of being "illegal" because we're all born free men and that we should help each other out of hardship and create equal opportunities for each other.
Before signing off, I would like to reflect on how we're all in one way or another affected by a migrant's or refugees' story: whether we're the migrant or refugee ourselves, or had to say goodbye to loved ones or by our ancestors who had to flee or were ripped away from their home town or had to move because of circumstances. What's your take on it? I would like to read about it in the comments below or better yet in your very own APART post 🤓.
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BEER.This is a very interesting post with some pertinent questions. It's great the way you analysed it and tied it to this community also. Great choice of song and singer's influence to help get your message clear.
There are so many things to consider when history comes into play:)))
Thank you for the compliment 😊.
And I try to connect dots when telling a story and yeah, recently because of changes in our personal lives, these questions pop into my head a bit more.
That is the question indeed. Especially when you used to hear certain people who were/are themselves immigrants say to others, “go back home”. We are all immigrants. I really love how Rasta looks at the world and I think we all share that sentiment. We just want to be free under the sun. But these borders and passports while they serve a purpose makes you wonder if there is a better way. A more equal way.
That's why I tried not to be too hard on immigrants in Suriname at the time, because I could get why they left their home country. As long as they add value to the country and aren't a nuisance, then be my guest. Only, don't steal our wealth, like gold for instance. Pay the necessary taxes, but I guess controlling and regulating those sectors is the job of the government.
I would like to travel the world, but with our passport there's only so much we can visit.
This situation that you are talking about has affected Venezuelans very much, so it is a very sensitive subject, the pain and the courage that develops in these cases is incredible. The human being is the salvation for the other human being, and when you are in another country there are people who reject you and others who accept you, I hope that everything gets better, what a beautiful sculpture.
I also hope that people will grow more accepting, because at the end of the day we're all humans. Especially if the migrants and refugees are contributing in their (new) society.