Munem Wasif - Winner Prix Pictet Commission


This woman’s house has been devoured by the river. Now she is migrating to a new land with her cow, before the storms hit again. Climate refugee polls seem to be increasing every year.
Series: Water Tragedy: Climate Refugee of Bangladesh
Digital Archival Print
28 x 44 cm
2007
Hashail, Munshiganj, Bangladesh

Riverbank erosion in its most violent form has led to the heartbreaking misery of people in the Munshiganj area. Hundreds of houses shifted as river erosion took away land rapidly. Minutes ago a boat had capsized in the middle of the tumultuous River Padma. Local residents are immersed in a discussion over the viciousness of the river, possibly induced by climate variability, at the river bank. This woman’s house has been devoured by the river. Now she is migrating to a new land with her cow, before the storms hit again. Climate refugee polls seem to be increasing every year. Hahebanu (18), having fought for 12 days with the floodwater, the struggle of this woman continues in Kurigram as the water has not yet receded. Waterlogging, following floods is thought to be on the rise in the event of climate change, making people more Monwara’s Quran lies ravaged and ruined in the paddy field in Borguna. One day after the cyclone, while hunting for her belongings, she stumbled upon the holy book. Puspa Rani Roy is distraught with grief and uncertainty. The vicious River Padma has washed away her home, cattle and other possessions. She waits, clueless about her next refuge in Munshiganj, victimized by the wraths of climate. Climate refugees have been forced to migrate to new lands because of riverbank erosion. The tins roofs from destroyed houses have been collected where the meager clothing of a mother and her child have been left to dry. Flood waters remain logged. The people have adapted to this aspect of climate and continue to exist in waist-deep flood waters, sometimes even inside their homes. Hatem Ali, 70 years old, has become completely penniless after the cyclone hit in Borguna. All his possessions – 20 chickens, 7 goats, 1 boat and his house have been wrecked. He shudders at the thought of beggining a new life. A mother is feeding her child as they move towards a new land.

Biography
Munem Wasif is a documentary photographer born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1983. A graduate of Pathshala – the South Asian Institute of Photography,... more

Artist statement
Farmers beside Brahmaputra in Kurigram have had to move five times at least, in the last ten years. Every year rivers are becoming more violent... more

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