The ‘One Man Refugee Tent’ reveals that the refugee is in reality a harassed being, who must be constantly mobile, ideally speaking ready to be shunted out in a matter of seconds - that is, by simply getting up and moving on.

In the globalised world of the present-day media, images of refugees and their camps are flashed across with increasing frequency. Images of such camps lead us to believe that their inmates enjoy a certain measure of security. Refugee camps, as portrayed in the pictures that go on air, appear to be all new, clean and bearable. In her graphic portrayal, Mella Jaarsma reveals that the refugee is in reality a harassed being, who must be constantly mobile, ideally speaking ready to be shunted out in a matter of seconds - that is, by simply getting up and moving on. But the artwork also clearly shows that the refugee is left to his own devices - all the help he receives from outside cannot in any way change the basic situation that is his lot. In the shortest possible time, hierarchies evolve even within the ranks of the refugees: the better off among them can buckle up their refugee “costumes” with buckles from all the major designer houses, to then maybe even parade on the “avenues” of the camp. It is particularly this element of the artist’s installation that symbolises - in a manner that is both conspicuous and redolent with ambiguous irony - the global dimensions that the refugee problem has since assumed.
The refugee residing in a camp does not have any real identity of his own; he has to conceal his thoughts and feelings in order to survive. Moreover, he is no longer regarded as an individual by the outside world, but only as a dot in a grey-green mass in which everything that is specific grows blurred.
The “One Man Refugee Tent” - bought in the neighbour-hood supermarket, perhaps even as a set of six for the entire family including the grandparents - is extremely compact and can be folded up and reduced to a size that can be easily accommodated in a cross country vehicle during leisure trips. It makes one feel better equipped to face any eventuality in this uncertain world, especially since all the items that one needs to survive at least for a day are available in the tent.