December 12, 2021 – May 21, 2022
The exhibition is a partnership between OJMCHE and The Immigrant Story, in collaboration with Jim Lommasson and NW Documentary, and presents a multimedia exhibition focused on the lives of these 14 refugees.
Founded in 2017 by Sankar Raman, who immigrated to the U.S. from India, The Immigrant Story is a volunteer-run nonprofit with a mission to foster empathy and build a more inclusive community by sharing stories of immigrants and refugees who often overcame tremendous odds to reach the United States. Sankar, who has experienced violent, racially-motivated attacks, founded The Immigrant Story in response to a Kansas shooting in February 2017 that killed one Indian American man and injured two others.
The Immigrant Story has collaborated with Portland photographer Jim Lommasson, building upon his project, Stories of Survival, originally produced in collaboration with the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. His work focuses on objects survivors were able to carry with them on their perilous journeys. From his photographs of the objects, the participants respond with handwritten testimonies — stories, memories, poems, drawings. Their stories speak to the luminous inner life of these ordinary things and testify to the unspeakable anguish of lives forever left behind.
Related Images and Videos
Click here to view the Flickr album of To Bear Witness – Extraordinary Lives