Nico Krijno
Protecting Young Refugees Through Sport /Kigeme, Mugombwa and Mahama refugee camps, Rwanda
Sport is playing an increasingly important role in the efforts of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to improve the lives of refugees, particularly young people.
Between 2017 and 2019, the UNHCR and the IOC launched the Sport for Protection project to increase the protection of refugee children and youth in six refugee camps across Rwanda.
Basic needs relating to sport and physical activities in the camps had to be addressed, in particular the lack of spaces and equipment for playing sport, and capacity-building for refugee coaches. Playing fields were built in each of the camps, and a total of 189 local coaches were trained to lead daily physical activities.
photo Gallery
2018 – IOC / Niko Krijno - All Rights Reserved
Sport does a lot for young refugees.
It’s a form of protection.
It’s a catalyst for integration into host communities.
It brings people closer together and forges friendships as well as mutual respect (and respect for the rules of the game).
It gives their lives meaning and focuses their thoughts and behaviour on something positive.
It takes them back to their childhood.
It boosts their self-confidence and builds life skills.
Sport is a right for all.
For more information, please visit the UNHCR website.
BIOGRAPHY
Nico Krijno, born in 1981 in South Africa, works at the intersection of photography, collage, painting, sculpture and performance, with a background in theatre and experimental video. Testing the limits of each medium, his work manifests itself in a series of unique and colourful abstractions that act as autonomous works of art, but which, when viewed as a collection, highlight Nico Krijno’s obsession and constant intrigue into the way he comes up with his photographs.
He works with materials found in his everyday environment, which he interprets and re-imagines to find alternative structures for how meaning and matter are perceived. Photographing these ephemeral structures is a private and physical performance, with the camera being the audience. Using an array of digital tools, he then manipulates the materials, colours and forms with the result that our perception of each photograph is constantly being challenged, never remaining static.
Nico Krijno was nominated for the Paul Huf Award 2013. He lives and works in South Africa.
