Days of Exile Hamburg

Yulia Navalnaya is a human rights activist and wife of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The chairwoman of the Human Rights Foundation is continuing her husband’s mission for democracy, justice and the rule of law in Russia following his death.

‘Three years ago now, the President of my country, Wladimir Putin, unleashed a senseless and bloody war against Ukraine. He brought untold suffering to the people of Ukraine, forcing millions of them to leave their homes and flee. They were robbed of their homes and separated from their loved ones – through the fault of the Russian dictator. The fate of flight also befell those Russians who refused to become part of the criminal Putin regime, who rebelled against the war in Ukraine and against the dictator’s power, who were not prepared to take up arms. Years earlier, another dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, had driven thousands of Belarusians into exile; people who had protested against his repressive policies and were subsequently forced out of the country.

How many of these people might there be worldwide? Hundreds of thousands, millions? People who had to leave their homes and loved ones because they dared to defy tyranny and stand up for their convictions and their desire for freedom. A year ago, Wladimir Putin murdered my imprisoned husband, the Russian opposition leader Alexei Nawalny. I couldn’t go to his funeral and I can’t go to his grave now – in Russia I would be arrested on the spot. But I dream of returning home one day: to a free and peaceful country. I am sure that everyone in exile harbours this dream. But I also know how important it is to find your place in another country. How courageously and determinedly these homeless people set about building a new home, how much they enjoy their small successes. Love of one’s homeland does not contradict the desire to really arrive in a foreign country, even if only for a while. I am very grateful to Germany and other Western countries for taking in refugees and supporting them. Every person living in exile has their own story. But one thing unites us: the shared pain, the longing for home and the hope of returning. Let’s not forget that, let’s support each other. We will return home! And we will do everything we can to ensure that this day comes as soon as possible. Thank you for what you are doing and for not giving up.̛

The key visual for the Days of Exile Hamburg 2025 on the cover of the programme booklet was designed by Rawan Almukhtar. He was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1991 and studied fine arts and painting there. In June 2024, he completed his studies in Conceptual Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He has received several art awards such as the Kunsthalle Wien Prize (2024) and the Ishtar Award for Young Artist of the Iraqi Fine Arts Association (2015). He was nominated twice for the Belvedere Art Award (2022 and 2024) and was shortlisted for the Körber Foundation’s Exile Visual Arts Award in 2023 with the work “Deframing Postmigration”. Almukhtar has participated in various exhibitions. His works have been shown at Galerie Meyer*Kainer in Vienna, among others. In 2021 he received a scholarship from Kültür gemma. Rawan Almukhtar questions typical representations of refugees, discourses on migration and gender norms. His art is characterized by his work as a political activist and deals with topics such as migration, identity and state violence. The colorful works often oscillate between photorealism and figurative art and challenge the viewer to rethink borders, identity and political responsibility.

The radio station NDR Kultur and the news platform Amal, Hamburg! are accompanying the Days of Exile Hamburg as cultural partners.