51 Humans - a conversation with Abdulazez Dukhan

I believe there are people who have a light that shines through and inspires others to be more open, empathic and understanding of the world we live in. Abdulazez Dukhan could be no different.

Our conversation started in a café in Brussels, months after I visited his photo exhibition 50 Humans. The exhibition portrayed the successes and struggles of 50 refugees (people who have fled their country of origin, for reasons of conflict or persecution) to Belgium. Soon, the conversation evolved to how we can turn actions into change. In his opinion, change should be defined as a series that starts and ends in a certain place, where the last person will never know how and who have started it – the so-called butterfly effect.

After the Syrian revolution broke out in 2011, Abdulazez had to flee the country by the end of 2014. He spent one year and a half in a refugee camp in Greece, and in 2017, he was granted asylum in Belgium.

“That is why we try to educate people about the revolution in Syria: This is because it matters to us, it is worth fighting for, that is why we are here and that is why we lost people who were close to us. We have today more than 500.000 victims, more than 7 million refugees. We keep trying to educate people, but I cannot be mad at people who do not talk about it. I cannot take my sadness and make them feel like they are to blame. The governments have been a huge part of the problem and countries who are making money selling weapons. However, we cannot go in the streets and shame people."

“In the exhibition, I tried to approach people shamelessly. I never tried to tell people that they are wrong. I know people are blindly manipulated, there is something that has been put in their eyes through politics and media, in the last few years. The exhibition was one of the biggest tries I have done so far, but not because I expected people to change. Change is made with few steps, you have a minor impact that can lead to a bigger change, but change begins with thoughts. Once you accept to not be right, you are able to investigate other realities and perspectives, and from that it can lead to change. That is what I have been trying to do.”

Later, he explained how the idea for the exhibition “50 Humans” came to life and the process of reaching out to people.

“If I keep focusing on the negativity, things will never change. For example, if I tell you children are dying in camps, the first time you will be sad, However the second time you will still be sad but not as much as the first time and the third time the pattern goes on. If we keep focusing on that, we will reach a point where we do not want to hear about it anymore, and this has been the problem that we have been facing for years. A lot of things happening around are focused on sadness, victimizing and about people who have lost their loved ones. There is a noticeably big link between refugees and this. Unfortunately, this is the one thing that has always hurt me, which is the sympathetic look.

"Today I am studying Computer Science on my third year and tomorrow I will be in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector. My friend’s new restaurant (one of the stories of the exhibition), the restaurant Baladi, is now one of the top-rated restaurants in Brussels, and they have been opened for about 4 to 5 months. Another friend who is in the exhibition, lives here for 4 to 5 years and opened a restaurant for about a month in the heart of Brussels – flooded with a good number of people and reservations, including great reviews. It is not a misery when we talk about these people. This was exactly the point to do something about. We keep seeing the same image being pushed to people’s minds.

"In the process of me doing all of this, it has always been the will of God. For this reason, the people I have met on the way have been incredible. People who I did not expect anything from, they were the ones who gave me the camera, who gave me the equipment that I started working with. I was not scared despite of me not having the support from people who were close to me, I said to myself that I had to keep going and therefore I started fundraising. Because I knew how tough it was and I knew that I would not have the support I needed.

"When I started reaching out to people, a lot of them were surprised. Some would not trust me, and I did not know a lot of them. They would ask “Do you have the finances to do it?” No. “Do you have the connections to do it?” No. “Do you have a place to do it?” I am just trying to do it, that is why I am here, would you like to participate? Luckily, after a few trials, I started developing a way to persuade them, telling them the story in a way that it would be something big, even if I did not know if it was going to be big or not or if I was going to take it to the next step or not. I am incredibly thankful they have trusted me. If I were in their place, I would have also questioned and would have had the same fears.

"I had one month to interview and once I interviewed many people, I knew that I could go on to the next step. It is one of the things I have done in my life that I never regretted because I learned so many things: from being disappointed, testing friends, testing people around, it has been a big test but at the same time it has been positive. I knew this was the way it should be done. Then I started looking for a place to host the exhibition, and after going on Facebook, I found one person who gave me the contact of the first place I hosted the exhibition and in the same day, they agreed to work with me. It was incredible! I went there explaining the project, showing some examples, the pictures and they accepted it!”

The exhibition has been displayed in 14 locations in Belgium, and it has been supported by friends and people worldwide. Abdulazez says “I achieved the goal of the exhibition. From the beginning I was simply happy, this is it, whatever comes from it, if it grows it is great and if it does not this was what I worked for. Thankfully, the exposition is moving by itself, and I do not do anything most of the time. Interested people pick the exposition from where it was. I am thankful because I did my part and now people are doing their part.

"I never had this stupid goal about changing the world. You can never do that, and never even wish to do that, why would you? We are the path for some other people to come and take over forever. We start things and people continue: we only start things because we can never finish them. Especially with these things, we can never finish them. We take the light, we walk with the light until some place where people can continue. A lot of people become depressed because they could not change anything. Therefore it is important to not underestimate, but to be realistic and happy with any change you make. It is never to change; it is to give a distinct perspective to make people think. Making people think, this is the most of what I wanted to do.”

It has not been an easy journey for him, but even though he does not know for sure where he is heading, he knows he is on the way of something beautiful. “I never knew where I am going but I know I am on the way. There are things I started but I never knew where it would lead me, I do not know where it is going but I know it is beautiful. I started studying Computer Science and I am supposed to study AI, which is quite different from photography and activism. But I know that I wanted to do that. I do not know what is going to happen but there are so many dreams, that I know I will keep working toward and be surprised.”

19 February 2022 - Brussels, Belgium