New Halifax exhibit focuses on refugee experiences

“Crossing Lines: A New Age of Migration” at Pier 21 in Halifax highlights the experiences of refugees.

“It gives you a very vivid, powerful and humanized look at people who are stuck at borders around the world,” said Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 curator Dan Conlin, who added the new exhibit also captures why people are fleeing countries around the world and the challenges they face.

“It also integrates some portrait images. Spectacular, moving images of people crossing flooded rice paddies in Bangladesh or crossing the Canadian border at Quebec,” said Conlin. “We also have portraits of some refugees who made it to Canada, and are reflecting on what they’ve been through.”

This exhibit showcases the photojournalism of Darren Ell and Roger LeMoyne.

Their pictures help tell dramatic life stories.

“I kind of feel my responsibility has been met, when I have recorded the situation with some understanding and with some empathy for the people in that situation,” said LeMoyne.

According to Conlin, the exhibit also emphasizes a crucial point: borders are fundamental to immigration.

“Our museum looks at immigration across Canada, from 1604 until the present day,” said Conlin. “These are events that folks will be familiar with: the crossings in the Mediterranean, the wars in the Congo and the U.S.-Mexico border walls.”

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