Refugee Archipelago
A graphic work of reportage as told by the residents of Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement, West Nile, Uganda.
Back in the late summer of 2019, Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement was still seen as a “unique urban experiment” with the potential to transform long-term humanitarian relief. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and the Ugandan Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) had negotiated an agreement to create the world’s first permanent city for refugees. Among the 285,000 people who ultimately ended up in Bidi Bidi was Richard Akim, an aspiring South Sudanese filmmaker and community organizer who go on to establish and run Bidi Bidi Media Lab. During that first visit, Richard explained the purpose of his work: “We hear you all the time. Now hear us.”
When German and I returned to Bidi Bidi more than two years later we found a community on the brink of survival and a settlement on the verge of abandonment. The years of unrelenting Covid restrictions, social isolation and meager food rations had shattered any illusion of Bidi Bidi’s permanence and revealed its innate ephemerality. Home is a place of belonging where one feels safe, secure. Bidi Bidi could offer none of those assurances.
The following work of graphic reportage, Refugee Archipelago, is a mosaic of oral histories from Bidi Bidi as told through the experiences of refugees, relief workers, and administrators who call it home for now. It represents an authentic account of the daily rhythms, discussions and aspirations of a stateless, voiceless community struggling to exist.
This work would not exist had Richard not tapped me on the shoulder in a dusty field in Rhino Camp and trusted us with his story. He and his family are the inspiration for this work. Likewise, we are indebted to Fahad Wadada Adams—navigator, translator, co-creator—and everyone in Bidi Bidi who shared their time and stories with us.
May the road rise to meet you.
*Refugee Archipelago would not have been possible without the consent and support of the Ugandan Office of the Prime Minister. All interviews and illustrations have been recorded and recreated as faithfully and respectfully as possible.
Editor, writer, publisher and co-founder of Interstitial Media whose work is primarily focused on conflict, culture, history and global affairs.
Award-winning Honduran animator and journalist who received the 2017 Gabriel García Márquez award for Latin American Journalism for his graphic novella "El Hábito de la Mordaza" ("The Habit of Silence"). He is founder of Bilbao Media Lab and co-producer of the Bidi Bidi Media Lab.
