Stories in the Shade derives from the idea of improving social integration in the refugee with a simple yet effective shade structure – specifically the refugee camp of Kakuma, Kenya. Kakuma’s population is 185.000, making it one of the world’s biggest camps – almost the size of the Danish city Aalborg. The Kakuma camp welcomes newcomers – initially meant as a temporary solution before inhabitants are assigned a more permanent solution. However, in reality refugees often spend multiple years here – as in camps in other parts of the world. Due to the temporary nature of the camp, it is designed to meet only the most basic needs for shelter and does not provide the necessary social environment, nor sense of community and home desperately needed in an uncertain everyday life.
Due to strong sunlight and extreme weather conditions the search for shade prevents people from interacting outside their tents during the day, as the camp’s spatial configuration provides very little shaded space.
Taking full advantage of existing structures and materials of the tents, Stories in the Shade proposes to join the separated shades of existing shelters to create the social meeting point that have been missing. The merged common spaces are meant for joint activities such as resting, sharing stories, exchanging culture and experiences, plus other potential communal uses including planting, cooking and much more. We believe that Stories in the shade is much more than just a physical space, but constitutes a space, a symbol and a platform for story-sharing, establishing new relations through which nuanced debates and communication can flourish.
During the festival the installation hosted a talk by Elisabeth Haslund, the spokesperson in Denmark for UNHCR, about the current refugee situation. It was also a destination for many tours within Roskilde Festival including visits from the danish minister of development and the Institute of Future Studies.