Reinhard Kleist

In his graphic novel Der Traum von Olympia Kleist tells the story of Samia Yusuf Omar. The sprinter represented Somalia in the Olympic Games 2008. Four years later in London she wanted to take part once again. Her poverty, Somalia’s repressive Islamic society and the country’s dire conditions for sport made her decide to leave. Her month-long journey took her via Ethiopia to Sudan, and eventually to Libya, where she boarded a boat to Italy. But during the journey across the Mediterranean, she died. The exhibition displays a selection of drawings the graphic novel is based on, and that give an impressive account of this refugee story.