As the world looks on and Americans are deciding which of the world’s refugee children to ban from the country, London-born Street Artist Sebastien Waknine has created a new work in Barcelona called “Journey of a Refugee” with Rubicon 1 and Mugraff.

Sebastien Waknine (0ld lady) in collaboration with Rubicon 1 (refugees) and Mugraff (letters) titled “Journey of a Refugee”.  Detail. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

One of the most active artists in the streets creating in a variety of styles of work that lean toward realism and sometimes tilt into fantasy and exaggerated caricature the London born Waknine decided to do this mural on Selva de Mar to speak to the pure human factors in a refugee crisis that grips much of the developed and developing world.

Sebastien Waknine (0ld lady) in collaboration with Rubicon 1 (refugees) and Mugraff (letters) titled “Journey of a Refugee”.  Detail. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

The new work captures the raw human emotions of fear, desperation and distress of people afloat on rough waters. Somehow Waknine also brings dignity to the harrowing scene and references classical painting, as he has on walls in his travels to countries like Mexico, France, Israel, Germany, and England.

As some societies open their doors to help those fleeing war and imminent danger it seems unthinkable to do anything less for the least of these.

Sebastien Waknine (0ld lady) in collaboration with Rubicon 1 (refugees) and Mugraff (letters) titled “Journey of a Refugee”.  Detail. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)