“Black and Orange is a symbol of solidarity with all these brave souls that had to wear life-vests to cross the sea to look for safety in a new country. Since I had to wear one I have a personal engagement with these life-vests, and these two colors.”
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- Yara Said, refugee artist
The Refugee Nation
In 2016 Rio de Janeiro, for the first time ever, a team of refugees was going to compete in the Olympic Games. These ten athletes would represent a nation of 65 million displaced people worldwide. As this was the first time refugees had ever competed in the olympics they would compete without a flag or an anthem.
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As a group of creatives in partnership with a group of refugees, we decided to take this opportunity to raise attention around the migrant crisis. Together, we came up with the concept of The Refugee Nation: a symbolic nation for all those who were forced to leave their own countries.
Over 3 billion impressions and robust organic media attention, helped us find new ways to sustain our impact in raising awareness of the migrant crisis. We collaborated with institutions such as the MoMA and V&A and non-profits such as Movement on the Ground and I’m Not a Refugee, who had similar missions.
The Refugee Nation won the Titanium Cannes Lion in 2017. The flag continues to make appearances and our team continues to share seek out meaningful partnerships.
2016
2016
2017
Coordinated with Yara Said to design the refugee flag, a symbol of hope and solidarity. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had strict laws about sanctioning a new flag, but through popular demand, refugee athletes were able to carry the flag on their game day.
Since 2017...
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The flag has been exhibited around the world at museums for millions of visitors to see, including the Victoria & Albert Museum's permanent collection.
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MUSeums
The flag is currently displayed at 20 refugee camps across the globe including Lesbos camp in Greece and Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.
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refugee camps
The refugee flag has been culturally picked up and its symbol has been used as a platform for conversation around human rights, the refugee aid and grassroot support. ​
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Culture
Bringing my strategy background, I helped create a venture strategy to organize the refugee nation and forge partnerships with other startups to help refugees gain employment and settle into new lives, such as a project with Makers Unite.
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