A Paper Monument for the Paperless: A Collaborative Social Art Project Presenting Refugee Woodcut Portraits

“A Paper Monument for the Paperless” is an ongoing art project by Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries and a group of 19 artists, creating woodcut portraits of undocumented refugees in the Netherlands. These 60 portraits are printed on paper and affixed to wooden sticks, serving as a monument to those seeking a promised land but caught between borders. The project aims to give visibility and attention to their existence, contrasting cold bureaucratic procedures with the warmth of artistic creation.

“A Paper Monument for the Paperless” is a profound and ongoing artistic endeavor by Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries, conceptualized as a monument for individuals often marginalized and unseen: undocumented refugees. The project directly addresses the plight of those seeking refuge who find themselves ensnared within societal borders, aiming to humanize and give literal faces to these individuals in the Netherlands. It involves a collaborative effort where a group of 19 artists meticulously craft woodcut portraits, each measuring 40 x 60 cm, printed on paper and mounted on wooden sticks. These sixty portraits, initiated in 2013, stand in stark opposition to the dehumanizing "fugitive, systematically taken snapshots" found in migrants' bureaucratic files. The core of the project lies in contrasting the sterile nature of bureaucratic procedures with the empathetic touch of art. Through an artist's hand, charcoal sketches, and heavy chiseling, the project imbues the portraits with warmth and a sense of time. These gravures are then disseminated and affixed to streets in cities both within and outside Europe, transforming public spaces into canvases for social commentary. This public intervention ensures that passersby are daily reminded of this often-anonymous group, fostering a performance of civil disobedience. The project's public nature relies on citizen participation, as individuals are encouraged to illegally distribute and paste the posters, thus becoming activists in bringing about social change and collaborating with socially excluded communities.