Stories

Valerie van Leersum & Mashid

Netherlands / Syria

At A Beautiful Mess in Amsterdam, I met Mashid, a woman from Syria. We didn't share much language, so we communicated through small drawings, translations from her brother and gestures.

Mashid told me how deeply she missed dancing and listening to music with the people in her Syrian village. They danced shoulder to shoulder - despite their shared sorrow - to comfort one another, to forget, to celebrate being alive and to keep hoping.

That image moved me. Together, we created a flag showing a circle of dancing people. They stand shoulder to shoulder, each in their own colour. The circle remains open so that everyone is welcome to join.

As we measured, cut and pinned the fabric, we worked, laughed and sometimes struggled to understand each other. The flag became a celebration of resilience: dancing not because the sorrow has disappeared, but because hope remains.