Curated by Tuçe Erel, Stories: crossing the border features photographs by artist Ali Saltan and anonymised stories emphasising the common struggles and challenges refugees and asylum-seekers face every day. The exhibition inspires the audience to reflect on the stories of people who were forced to leave their homes and found safety in Türkiye, and the community that welcomed them.

The exhibition will open its doors daily between 14.00-19.00 from November 18 until December 4 at Aquarium, Skalitzer Straße 6, 10999 Berlin-Kreuzberg. Throughout the exhibition, five guided tours will take place at the space.

Millions of lives, millions of stories Türkiye continues to host the world's largest refugee population, with over 3.7 million Syrian refugees and over 300,000 refugees and asylum seekers from other countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen.

The photography exhibition features individual stories of refugees and asylum seekers in Türkiye, collected between March and July 2022 from humanitarian projects implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in partnership with community-based NGOs in Aksaray, Bursa, Elâzığ, Esenler (Istanbul), Kayseri, Kütahya, Sakarya, and Van. Since 2015, with financial support from the German government and EU humanitarian aid, GIZ has been active in the refugee response, assisting the Turkish government's efforts.

Background:
Co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and European Union humanitarian aid, the project “Improving Community-based Social Services for Refugees and Vulnerable Residents of Host Communities in Turkey (CLIP 2)” aims to strengthen the personal and socio-economic resilience of refugees and vulnerable members of the host community by supporting Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in underserved areas of Türkiye. This support targets all refugees and asylum seekers residing in Türkiye in addition to vulnerable members of the Turkish community, including single-headed households, seasonal migrants, LGBTIQA+ persons at risk, and child labourers.