“Our perceptions for what a home is are different, so I wanted to illustrate the feeling that would make more people connect with the illustration. Certainly, the home is the place where you can connect with your inner child and nurture it to feel protected, happy and satisfied. We inevitably think of games, and more specifically of “tag”. In this game, there was one way in which we managed to pause and defend ourselves – we would create a “house” with both hands, imitating a roof. It is interesting how the idea of personal privacy has penetrated children’s play, reflecting the essential value of having a home. And it is a pity that there are so many people in the world for whom the home is a place of fear and insecurity. Because the feeling that we are safe and secure must be with us wherever we live.”

Аrtist: Ilian Iliev

Artist Mihaela Karadzhova

“This is the home from whose roof you explore the stars; the home in whose garden you disappear for hours; the home whose air you fill with the scent of your cooking; the home behind whose curtains you share kisses; the home you often can’t have without the strong hands of a caring community.”

Artist: Denitsa Boyadzhieva

“Building a home is one of the most important, difficult, but also satisfying things in this world. It’s like planting and maintaining a garden – it takes time, effort and love, but at one point you are surrounded by abundant beauty and comfort.”

Аrtist: Borislava Karadzhova

Аrtist: Borislava Karadzhova                  Artist: Albena Tsoneva                    Artist: Albena Tsoneva

Artist: Desi Baeva

Аrtist: Teodor Georgiev

                       Artist: Elitsa Sarbinova                                                      Artist: Daniela Yankova

“I was inspired by the desire of the people working on the project to create an illustration not focused solely on the problem – people living in extreme deprivation, in somber home lookalikes, in fear and hopelessness. And instead to be cheerful, like the smile that each of us can have… To imagine these people where they have the human right to be – in the protected privacy of their own home.”

Artist: Denitsa Boyadzhieva

Аrtist: Borislava Karadzhova

Artist: Sevda Semer

Аrtist: Rozalina Burkova

           Artist: Mila Lozanova                                                             Artist: Sevda Semer

“I illustrated the earth, whose clouds and rain we all share. Merged her image with the state that has closed these lands within borders; the political system that should protect the homeless among us, providing them with cozy housing and hope for development.”

Artist: Denitsa Boyadzhieva

Portraits of Hope is a creative and effective way to engage communities in the conversation on safe housing.

To find out more about our work in Bulgaria visit Housing Poverty in Bulgaria: Roma Slums & Unsafe Homes (habitatforhumanity.org.uk)