Today I came across a poster which stopped me dead in my tracks. It showed a pictorial of a woman, dressed as a cleaning lady, wearing a mortaboard and carrying a diploma. Underneath it said: Migrantjob. A second look revealed that it was the product of Migrantas, an intiative launched by three Argentinian graphic designers, themselves migrants to Berlin.
Faced with the inability of many migrants to express the feelings of loss, separation, confusion, hostility but also relief, joy, and appreciation many feel upon arrival in their “new” home country, Migrantas developed a means to “combine tools from the social sciences, graphic design and the visual arts to create a reflection of the migrant condition.” The basis of their pictorial campaign are workshops in which migrants draw their experiences. These are transferred into striking pictorials, which have since become part of an exhibit in various German cities and most recently the public ad campaign in Hamburg. In addition to raising awareness, the workshops foster dialogue among migrants from different countries.
I think this campaign in particularly well done. It has been covered by a number of publications but deserves all the publicity it can get.
