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 McAlpine visited the camps in February to see if she could
commission art and collect stories from migrants living in
Calais for an exhibition in London – an idea she had while
watching and reading media reports about the situation there.
"I was just so horrified by some of the reporting in the news
that I felt it was really important for people who are refugees
or migrants – either in Calais or in other camps – to have their
voices heard," McAlpine told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Known as the "jungle", the squalid, unsanitary camp hosts around
4,000 migrants from poor and strife-torn regions in Africa and
the Middle East, most of whom hope to reach Britain where a
greater number of job opportunities and the more familiar
English language are big draws.
McAlpine said sharing tea with migrant families inside their
tents and hearing their stories cemented her decision to put
together the London exhibition.
Still, she said she was initially embarrassed by the idea, as it
seemed frivolous compared to the humanitarian help that aid
workers offered.
"But at the same time, I felt this was the way I could help,"
McAlpine said. "Most of the people I spoke to really wanted to
tell their story and they said, 'We want our voices heard,
please tell people in the UK what it's like.'"
Organized by the Migration Museum Project and showcased in an
east London gallery, McAlpine's exhibition, 'Call me by my name:
stories from Calais and beyond', features discarded life jackets
used by refugees who arrived in Greece by boat, as well as
professional paintings and amateur photos by migrants in Calais.
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In recent months, hundreds more migrants have made their way to
Calais despite the bulldozing of part of their "jungle" camp in
March, and despite extra port security aimed at stopping them from
reaching Britain.
One refugee, whose photos feature in the exhibition, arrived in
Calais from Eritrea in October last year.
"We crossed through the Sahara, Libya, Italy, France. It was a very
difficult situation," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation over
the phone. "It was winter also, daily rain. The situation was very
harsh.
"Maybe [the exhibition] will explain to some people what is
happening, what the situation is like in Calais. We are just asking
for freedom."
(Reporting by Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Katie Nguyen.;
Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of
Thomson Reuters that covers humanitarian issues, conflicts, global
land rights, modern slavery and human trafficking, women's rights,
and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories)
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