What does home mean when you do not know how long you can stay? For Asma, who has been living in Thailand since 2015, this question takes shape in a tiny house surrounded by an endless ocean. After the Bangkok refugee centre where she worked as an interpreter closed, she began spending more time developing her lifelong love of painting. Through this work and the reflection below, she explores the memories we carry, the places we leave behind, and the uncertainty of making a home somewhere new.

Painting and reflection by Asma

I have been living in Thailand since 2015, away from the place my family once called home.

I believe we carry a part of our home with us wherever we go, but we also carry the memories of the places we leave behind. We may find shelter and build new memories somewhere else, but sometimes, it never truly feels like ours. We know that one day, we may have to leave this place behind too, just as we did the last.

This painting represents that feeling — a tiny home surrounded by an endless ocean, holding so many memories while having no certainty of where it belongs next.

Perhaps home is something we carry within us, even when we no longer have a place to call our own.

Are you a refugee or displaced person with a story to share through art? We welcome paintings, photographs, poems, and other creative work that you would like to share with the Borderless360 community.

Email your work to hello@borderless360.org, along with a short introduction and a few words about what it means to you. We would love to hear from you.