Nadeem Salaam
‘Made by Refugee’ Labels By Kien Quan In NYC
Photographer Kien Quan and his creative partner Jillian Young have traveled from borough to borough slapping goods with “made by refugee” stickers, from bottles of Sriracha chili sauce in an Astoria grocery store to books by Sigmund Freud and copies of the Bible at famed East Village shop The Strand — and they documented it all on camera so the project will live on past the stickers’ shelf lives.
“I just had a thought, ‘If this refugee didn’t come over and create Sriracha, nobody in Brooklyn would be saying ‘This is the newest rage,'” said Quan of the iconic sauce created by Vietnamese refugee David Tran.
Quan, 26, was moved to launch the project after the first iteration of President Donald Trump’s refugee ban was implemented in late January, he said. He read an article noting a resistance to accepting refugees after the Vietnam War, and realized Americans may not be drowning their food in the now-famous Sriracha sauce if Tran had not been allowed in the country.
So he decided to remind local shoppers who should take the credit for their most cherished products.
The artists carried out the sticker campaign over several days about a month ago, and put up a video March 15 documenting the project. Quan has also posted a downloadable sticker sheet to his website so others can put more refugee labels on city goods.
Kien Quan (CW/AD), Jillian Young (CW/AD)
Role: Concept, Writing, Photography, Production, Execution, Public Relations
Featured on: Adweek, Ad Age, Global Citizen, Quartz, Miami Ad School, Bored Panda, Azure Magazine, El Español, West Welfare, NewCo Shift
“While most countries have strong disapproval for refugees, we created these posters and stickers to remind the world that they have always made impactful contributions to humanity.”
STICKERS
We got the message across to shoppers by pasting it onto consumer goods. If you would like to join the movement, here is a downloadable sticker sheet that can be printed. If you send me a shot of the label on your product, I will repost it on our Facebook page.
Behind the scenes
David Tran – Founder of Sriracha – Vietnamese refugee
Carl Djerassi – Inventor of birth control – Austrian refugee
Bob Marley – Musician – Jamaican refugee
Alex Issigonis – Designer of the MINI – Greek refugee
Lakshmibhai Pathak – Founder of Patak’s – Kenyan refugee
Albert Einstein – Revolutionary physicist, Nobel Peace Prize winner – German refugee
Freddy Mercury – Lead singer of Queen – East African refugee
Felix Salten – Author of Bambi – Austrian refugee
Virgin Mary & Jesus Christ – Mother and son of God – Refugees of Nazarath
Anne Frank – Diarist – German refugee
Tenzin Gyatso – 14th Dalai Lama, Champion of peace – Chinese refugee
Sigmund Freud – Neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis – Austrian refugee
MURAL
To bring even more attention, we installed a mural in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This stopped pedestrians in their track and left them with a new perception.
We assembling the images together using four printed tabloids and a little bit of tape.
Early in the morning, the posters were quietly wheatpasted.
From top left to bottom right:
Rosary Beads – made by the mother of Jesus, Mary – Israeli refugee
Les Miserables – made by the poet / novelist / dramatist, Victor Hugo – French refugee
Mini – designed by inventor, Sir Alec Issigonis – Greek refugee
Birth Control – invented by Carl Djerassi – Austrian refugee
Sriracha – founded by entrepreneur, David Tran – Vietnamese refugee
Bambi – written by author, Felix Salten – Austro-Hungarian refugee
Theory of Relativity – written by theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein – German refugee
Nocturne – written by composer, Chopin – Polish refugee
The Diary of Anne Frank – German refugee
Legend – made by musician, Bob Marley – Jamaican refugee
