MUD, DUST AND MAROUGE: PRECARIOUS CONSTRUCTION IN A CONGOLESE REFUGEE CAMP

摘要

This photo essay combines text and images to convey how the Congolese who reside in Nyarugusu, a United Nations refugee camp in Tanzania, interact with and interpret camp architecture. To establish the camps as temporary spaces, the Tanzanian government requires that refugees construct their houses with sundried mud brick and thatched roofs so that they can eventually be destroyed without a trace. The red dirt of their homes and the camp environment colours almost every facet of Nyarugusu residents' lives, adding a sense of dirtiness to the camp. The violence built into the camp architecture is not only contained in its eventual destruction, but also in the ways in which it visibly marks the residents' alienation and subordination in Tanzania.