LLEI D'ART 13

THEMOST IMPORTANTTHING Portraits of a flight CaixaForumMadrid Until 31thMay 2015 Although the exhibition finished inBarcelona, thepublic will be able to visit it throughout the year inMadrid and Mallorca. This is a collectionof shots takenby theAmerican photojournalist BrianSokol whichoffer a gaze into the life of refugeeswho have sufferedpersecution, violence and breaches of human rights over the last three years thanks to the conflicts inSyria, SouthSudan, theCentral African Republic andMali. Over 12millionpeople havebeen forced to flee their homes, withover a thirdof themmoving to other countries andbecoming refugees. A collectionof the testimonies of specificpeoplewho had just been forced to leave their homes, taking theirmost important objectswith them at themoment thephotowas taken. FromNovember 2011onwards,more than 105,000 refugees have crossed theborder between theBlueNile state inSudan and the Upper Nile state inSouthSudan. The trip, which is usually done on foot, crosses dangerous conflict zones andpasses along roads that arebarely usable thanks to the heavy rains. Themajority are fleeing urgently, only takingwith themwhat they can carry,meaning that sometimes they take a small bundle of clothingon their back. Somepeople cross the frontier ill or injured andothers havedonepart of theway without eating. It is becomingmore andmore risky toget involved in an artisticproject. The relationshipbetweenpolitics and art ismoving intomurkywaters of unwelcome readings of situations. Artisticphotography has howevermanaged togive visibility to situations that reclaim justice and that, thanks to the reflection causedby them, canhave the hope of being viewedby thosewhowouldotherwise never come into contact with them. Thephoto-declamation, within the scope of art, causes ethical andmoral dilemmas that have little todowith the flightyworld associatedwith the churning markets of so-called contemporary art. BrianSokol Saint Joseph (Missouri) 1975 Americanphotographer dedicated todocumenting human rights violations and humanitarian crises. Awriter by trade, he useswords and images to tell stories about peoplewhopass unnoticed in the media. El bombardeo aéreoobligó aAhmed, de 10 años, y a su familia a huir de su casa en la aldeade Taga, en el estadodeNiloAzul deSudán, sietemeses antes deque se tomara esta fotografía. Lomás importante quepudo llevarse consigo es aKako, sumonomascota. Kako yAhmed hicieron el viajede cincodías desde Taga hasta la frontera conSudán del Sur juntos en laparte traserade un camión. Ahmeddiceque no puede imaginarse la vida sinKako, y que lomás difícil de abandonar el NiloAzul fue tener quedejar al asnode su familia. Campamentode refugiados de Jamam,Maban, Sudándel Sur. Thebombing forced 10-year-oldAhmed and his family to flee their homes in the village of Taga inSudan’sBlueNile state, sevenmonths before this photowas taken. Themost important thing that he could takewithhimwasKako, his petmonkey. Kano andAhmedmade the five-day trip fromTaga to theborder withSouthSudan in thebackpart of a lorry. Ahmed says he cannot imagine lifewithout Kako, and that the most difficult thing about leaving theBlueNilewas leaving the family donkey behind. JamamRefugeeCamp,Maban, SouthSudan. Benjamin and his sewingmachine, of which he says: ‘It’smy life, by blood. I use it tobe able tobuy food formy family’. InBatanga, he makes a littlemoney repairing refugees’ and locals’ clothes. Benjamin decided to flee after seeing aSeleka fighter kill a trader in theport area of Bangui. He ran to his home village,Mongo, to collect hiswife and children, but it was empty. He took his sewingmachine andwent in searchof his lovedones, and found themon his family allotment. The followingday they fled toBatanga. Benjamin, con sumáquinade coser, de laquedice: «Esmi vida, es mi sangre. La utilizoparapoder comprar comidaparami familia». En Batanga, gana algúndinero arreglando la ropade los refugiados y de lapoblación local. Benjamindecidió huir después de ver cómo un combatientedeSelekamatabade un tiro a unmercader en la zona portuariadeBangui. Corrió a su aldea natal,Mongo, para recoger a su mujer e hijos, pero el lugar estaba vacío. Cogió sumáquinade coser y se fue abuscar a sus seres queridos, encontrándolos en laparcela familiar. Al día siguiente huyeron haciaBatanga. Magnolia, 20 años, en el campamentode refugiados de Jamam,Maban, Sudándel Sur. Ella y su familia resistieron varios ataques aéreos durantemeses, perodecidieron huir de supueblo, Bofe, la noche enque los soldados se presentaron en él abriendo fuego. Junto con sus tres hijas, viajódurantedocedías desdeBofe hasta la localidadde El Fudj, en la fronteradeSudándel Sur. Lomás importante que se llevó consigo es la ollaque sostiene en esta fotografía, lo suficientementepequeña comoparapoder viajar con ella y lo suficientemente grande comopara cocinar el sorgopara ella y sus tres hijas durante el viaje. Magnolia, 20 years old, in the JamamRefugeeCamp inMaban, SouthSudan. She and her familywithstood several aerial attacks formonths, but decided to leave their hometownof Bofe on the night that soldiers appeared, opening fire. Together with her threedaughters, she travelled for 12days fromBofe to the village of El Fudi, on theSouthSudaneseborder. Themost important thing she tookwith her was is thepot that she is bearing in the photograph, whichwas small enough tobe takenwith to cook sorghumgrain for her and her threedaughters during the trip. 105