More than 200 primary school children from Schools of Sanctuary across Birmingham took part in an exhibition called ‘The Sea is Big and I am Small’ where they imagined what it is like flee war or persecution.
The installation was the brainchild of Jan Arkwright of Location29, a small art gallery in the Jewellery Quarter, who found the work of the children inspirational.
They decorated 200 wooden skittles as people fleeing war or persecution. The skittles were then placed on a ‘raft’ which hung from the ceiling to give the impression of a raft swaying in the sea.
The installation represents the dangerous journey across the sea taken by people seeking safety and examines their fragility.
The exhibition also features an art installation by Egyptian artist Marwa Sayed of hands painted on oars depicting quotes from a book of published poems by Birmingham based charity Stories of Hope and Home.
