JULIEN BONET - Refugee

Technique: Promptography on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper
Size: 50 x 40 cm
Edition: 3 + 1 AP
Year: 2023

Signed, dated and edition numbered by the artist on a separate label.

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Refugee

A figure shrouded in nets, driftwood, and plastic fragments. No face, just a body. No place, just transition. Refugee tells of a journey of no return—of a departure that is more than a movement: a leap into the unknown.

In this work, Julien Bonet interweaves myth and news, archaic rituals and geopolitical reality. Migration appears here not as a heroic saga, but as a radical ambivalence: hope and disappointment, liberation and imprisonment, departure and loss. The nets—simultaneous symbols of hunting and rescue—envelop the body like a second skin: both protection and shackle.

This figure also carries with it an uncomfortable truth: Europe's aging societies depend on migration. Without the hands that come here, care systems will collapse, economies will shrink, and cultures will lose their diversity. But how can this necessity be addressed politically—beyond fear-driven slogans and utopian promises? How can structures be created that offer protection without tolerating exploitation?

Refugee doesn't provide answers. Instead, it opens up a space for reflection that looks beyond the headlines—to the courage and pain, the illusions and realities. Here, art itself becomes the question: How do we approach those who will help shape our future?