Architecture of the refugee camp
McGraw, Michael (2025) Architecture of the refugee camp. In: Traces, Ruptures, Returns, 11 September 2025, Mirror Gallery, Arts University Plymouth, UK.
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| Creators/Authors: | McGraw, Michael |
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| Abstract: | I was invited to give a presentation and participate in the Traces, Rupture, Returns exhibition and research day with the Memory Site Artefact (MSA) research group based at Arts University Plymouth on 11th September 2025. The abstract for this research event was intended to bring together artists and researchers investigating how art can respond to contested histories, displacement, ecological change and fractured geographies. "Expect work that asks urgent questions: What does it mean to create with a site that no longer exists? How can memory be preserved when place is erased, abstracted or transformed? This is an opportunity to experience research-informed creative practice up close and to connect with ideas shaping contemporary art and design today." My presentation centred around the research I have been conducting around critical theories of humanitarianism (focusing on ethnologist and anthropologist Michel Agier's 'Anthropology of displacement') and the architecture of the refugee camp; from basic tarpaulin structures tied together to the Hex House modular shelter designed by Architects for Society for refugees and disaster victims. I researched the UNHCR's metal prefab modular buildings designed with efficiency and simplicity of deployment and began to propose new possibilities for these. I referenced a number of works I have made across interdisciplinary creative practice research, exploring the field of refugee camps through a series of quite unique lithograph pieces. These works are intended to push the boundaries of creativity, whereby I am attempting to create highly specialised, individual works which highlight the significance and originality in both the ideas/context and the process of making these works. These were incredibly difficult works to create, hugely complex both technically and contextually and I feel they are extremely successful in what I was aiming to achieve. This event offered a round table discussion within the gallery and looked to develop potential research collaborations between participants. These are currently being developed with follow up events being scheduled for future projects. |
| Output Type: | Conference or Workshop Item (Lecture) |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | live broadcast media, warfare, sites of destruction, memory and place, site responsive, contested landscapes, humanitarian aid, refugee |
| Schools and Departments: | School of Fine Art |
| Dates: | Date Date Type 11 September 2025 Accepted |
| Status: | Unpublished |
| Funders: | GSA staff development fund |
| Related URLs: | |
| Event Title: | Traces, Ruptures, Returns |
| Event Location: | Mirror Gallery, Arts University Plymouth, UK |
| Event Dates: | 11 September 2025 |
| Output ID: | 10743 |
| Deposited By: | Michael McGraw |
| Deposited On: | 04 Mar 2026 20:12 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Mar 2026 20:12 |

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