Review by Ian Keogh
The Power of Welcome tells the stories of five people who’ve had to flee their homelands due to persecution or war, and who’ve found homes elsewhere, sometimes temporary, sometimes permanent.
Despite those telling their stories including at least two further artists, Ada Jusic illustrates the entire book, starting by relating the circumstances of her family fleeing Bosnia in the early 1990s. Her art is kept clear and simple, yet nonethless expressive for that, including illustrations of numerous cultures, but keeping the content vague even while detailing atrocities. The sample art of her own experience being targeted by a sniper aiming at a playground induces the necessary revulsion without sensationalising for a young audience, and it applies equally to bombings in Syria and Ukraine.
Each tale is in black and white with a single identifying colour used throughout the chapter, including the text pages. Jusic and Ramsey Hassan fleeing Somalia were both children when personally impacted, but Marie Bamyani, Sonja Zhurenko and Nadine Kaadan were adults when respectively departing Afghanistan, Ukraine and Syria. Bamyani details restrictions on women unknown in most English speaking countries, while Kaadan notes how lucky she was to be able to take a flight when many people trusted their lives to small boats and died during their journey. The reasons, methods and routes for leaving vary, but using true stories brings home the fates of real individuals rather than nameless masses.
Every chapter is preceded by an admirably compact, yet detailed history of the troubled countries in text form. Written by Balie Rai and Karim Khwanda, these deliver not just the lead-up to circumstances detailed in the stories, but go back centuries, and celebrate achievements as well as tragedies.
A glossary of terms and more information about the creators round off what’s sadly a very necessary book in the 2020s as too many people and states seem to lack basic human compassion and understanding. One answer lies in educating children and fostering that compassion and understanding, and The Power of Welcome does this without ever talking down.
