The collection in a Bangladeshi refugee camp tries to mitigate the “identity crisis” that many Rohingya are experiencing and provides a space to heal
camps in Cox’s Bazar, a town in south-eastern Bangladesh, are home to nearly 1m people from Myanmar’s Rohingya ethnic minority. No family is without its own first-hand account of the atrocities committed by the Burmese armed forces and allied militias since 2017. Unsurprisingly, when the International Organisation for Migration carried out a mental-health assessment in 2018, many respondents said they felt traumatised by their experiences.
Some of the objects have been recreated with faithful authenticity, but for others the artists have woven into their work the new ideas, materials and techniques that they have picked up since leaving Myanmar—where repressive policies left the Rohingya mostly cut off from the outside world. Rather than being frozen in a time before they fled, much of the collection seeks to capture a culture in flux.
The centre also provides a space to heal: participants describe drawing comfort from the familiarity of home and finding creative activities therapeutic. “Our artwork, especially our music, can play a key role in reducing stress and bringing smiles to our faces,” says Shahida Win, a poet. According to Shamsunnahar , an embroidery artist, for women in particular it brings a reprieve from the boredom and oppression of life in the camp.
This irks Burmese nationalists, especially the ruling military junta, which violently took back power in Myanmar just over a year ago. “The term ‘Rohingya’ has always been rejected by the Burmese people and is not recognised by the Burmese people,” the junta said in a statement about the cultural memory centre in January. Beyond Myanmar’s ethnic-Burmese majority, which accounts for nearly 70% of the population, 135 official ethnic groups are recognised in the country.
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