SEPTEMBER 7 (Reuters) — An image of a three-year-old Syrian boy dead on a Turkish beach echoed across the world on Thursday (September 3) as it was reproduced in publications and social media across the world.
Artists have joined in recreating and manipulating the haunting image to express their horror at the boy’s fate.
Video showed a little boy wearing a bright red t-shirt and shorts lying face-down in the surf on a beach near the resort town of Bodrum. A grim-faced policeman could be seen carrying the body away.
Turkish media identified the boy as 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi, whose 5-year-old brother died on the same boat. Reports said he was from the north Syrian town of Kobani near the Turkish border, a scene of heavy fighting between Islamic State insurgents and Kurdish regional forces a few months ago.
He was among at least 12 refugees, presumed to be Syrian who died trying to reach the Greek island of Kos.
Artists have reacted in various ways, a Turkish based artist called Murat Sayin chose to show the image of the boy adding a paper boat in the background highlighting the dangerous nature of the voyage his family took. Others like Egypt based artist Islam Gawish chose to show the boy as angel or his spirit being taken away. Iranian cartoonist Mahnaz Yazdani opted to not replicate the image, instead depicting the sea as a warm, safe blanket under which dead children can sleep.
Aylan’s father returned to Kobani on Friday (September 4) to bury his sons and their mother who all drowned trying to reach the safety of Europe.
