Echoes of Endings: Through a Poetic Prism

Echoes of Endings, an art exhibition by poet Ahmad Zaidan and photographer Rewan Kakil, was held at Brinkkala Gallery in Turku from November 2024 to January 2025. The exhibition aimed to explore the theme of endings in refugees’ lives from diverse perspectives, where poetry was crafted and photos spoke in an eloquent language, transcending all languages. Amidst all that, multimedia unlocked a new dimension, guiding visitors to the gist of the topic, while eying the yellow bed in the middle of the room, wrapped with barbed wire.

Windows Are the Eyes of Buildings

Exhibitions are gateways etched into the space, leading to dazzling realms of endless creativity, unsealing the bolted horizon, brimming with interpretations and revelations. “Echoes of Endings”, an art exhibition held in Turku as part of the project “Endings – Refuge, Time, and Space”, funded by Kone Foundation and hosted by the Migration Institute of Finland, also marked the farewell art display conducted at Brinkkala Gallery. Its walls were adorned with photos, where each photo served as a window, unfurled onto diverse perspectives that concluded upon the enriching commonalities of our humanity.

Windows are the eyes of buildings, and once we relax and close our eyes, we behold alternative realities. We take a deep breath, attempting to reclaim something from the distant folds of oblivion. The blinds of Brinkkala lowered, permitting the eyelids of another art to dangle, cascading hues of poetry, refusing to halt, flowing seamlessly, bearing the visitors to the tranquil jungle of entwined thoughts – banners were slung like curtains of dusk, beaded with poems, inviting us to ponder like thoughtful stars.

Art is a Language That Goes Beyond All Languages

Multimedia was also incorporated into our exhibition as part of our plan to utilise our artistic tools, in the hope of creating a language that transcends all languages and goes beyond boundaries to touch the hearts. Legal documents obtained from the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) were transformed into poetry and a song – art serves as an X-ray that surpasses shrouds and reveals the humanitarian essence of a legal case, reverting a legal decision to its initial elements and highlighting its impact on the decision’s recipients.

In our exhibition, we aimed to create a language that does not resemble any language, travelling afar and transcending all barriers: can a legal decision bearing official language turn into a love song, or can a drum utter eloquent expressions through its universal rhythms, resonating with the inner pulse of the soul? As though one might resort to an instrument to answer on their behalf for the stereotypical, frequent questions about migrants’ identities and the reasons they left their countries.

In the rear room perched a yellow bed at the center of the space, flanked by two chairs. The bed was wrapped in tiny spikes, along the path of the presumed comfort that shredded the dreams of asylum seekers and summoned barbed wire, the one that rips the earth at borders, slits farms, and divides the forest. Yet, it could never bar the bird from singing while perching on it, nor prevent the roots of trees from entwining beneath the earth.

Visitors had the chance to rest on the yellow chairs, facing the uncomfortable bed, while listening to “Monologue of Refugee Camp” in Finnish or English on headphones, which endowed them with the opportunity to delve deeper into the vibrant spectacle, as though one would fall into a whirl of time, spiralling endlessly, where the elements of life align on the horoscope of inspiration. For those who’d dwelled there, the scene would plough their memory, like a farmer tending the fields; thereafter, the scent of the refugee camp would permeate the air. Meanwhile, for those who had not been there, art gave them the dimension to experience a somber moment in a refugee camp that decided to break the shackles and narrate its story.

In the dark corner of the room unfolded a broken mirror, standing at the verge of truth, inviting visitors to step forward and peer into the distorted glass framed by labels. The shattered mirror incarnated life and the way we perceive it, drawing on our experiences that transform facts into personal opinions, shattering the image into countless perspectives. Fragments of the mirror were perceived by some as shrapnel, while others saw them as identical to maps. Life is shaped correspondingly by the way we see it. Thus, we should wipe the window before we peer outside. Art remains the earliest form of hope, extending its roots beneath the visible world to connect people.

Endings Are Flipped Beginnings

The final part of the Echoes of Endings exhibition conjured a hope of a new beginning in a melancholic way – the end of a narrow river is the beginning of a vast ocean, whereas the beach still puzzles the seabirds: is it the end of the ocean or the beginning of the land?
In the last chapter of our exhibition, we summoned cherished memories of loved ones – deceased family members and friends – resurrecting them through our art so that they could resume their journey in our hearts. Death itself is freedom, liberating us from the curse of volumes and objects, permitting us to become a genuine part of the whole, traveling endlessly in the universe, unfolding distances, and challenging obstacles – as though life were a yoke unlocked by death! It is a reunification with nature.

The exhibition was visited by 2,323 people. If we assume that this number of visitors truly ingested the core themes of refuge and endings, how many of them would relate their experience to workmates, friends, or family members?

How many would begin to confront this topic from a deeper, darker angle? Would they realise that the story of migrants does not end with the end of their journey?

How many would pose questions of identity, realising its complexities far exceed the simplistic portrayals imposed by certain propaganda? And how challenging is it to confine such dynamic concepts within narrow labels?