Photographer, writer introduce Columbus to Bhutanese-Nepali refugees living here
If a single photo can encapsulate the outlook of the Bhutanese-Nepali refugees who have settled in central Ohio, Tariq Tarey says, it's the one that ends a new exhibit at the Ohio History Center.
The image depicts Nar Rai, one of 30 such refugees photographed by 40-year-old Tarey for "Bhutanese-Nepali Neighbors," which opened Friday.
In the photo, Rai stares pensively at the camera, appearing stoic and, with a hint of a smile, also confident.
"Just a good soul," said Tarey, a New Albany resident who co-curated the exhibit with Doug Rutledge, a former co-worker who
lives in the Clintonville neighborhood.
“I feel like Nar has that look that says: ‘I’m proud. I’m here. And I’m going to make it.’”
Such self-assuredness, he said, served as a logical “conclusion” for the show, which weaves a narrative of sorts about one of the largest refugee groups in Columbus, with an estimated 20,000 in the area.
The personal accounts of the photo subjects help tell a tale of the Bhutanese-Nepali refugee experience.
For many, the journey began in Bhutan, a Buddhist kingdom on the eastern edge of the Himalayas, where they lived and worked before persecution prompted them to flee to refugee camps in Nepal a South Asian country bordered by China and India. It ended after they sought asylum in the U.S., ultimately resettling in Columbus.
The striking photos of Tarey’s subjects are accompanied by those individual stories, gleaned from interviews conducted by Rutledge. The two — who worked together for years at Jewish Family Services, where they helped refugees settle in central Ohio — want to introduce Ohioans to their Bhutanese-Nepali neighbors, helping to bridge any cultural divide.
“I hope that people come and realize something more about what the refugee experience is like,” said Rutledge, 66, now retired. “I really hope this defuses some worry that some people might have about having some foreigners or refugees in your midst.”
Since the 1980s, roughly 80,000 of Bhutan’s ethnic Nepalese have resettled in the United States after the Bhutanese monarchy banned their Hindu religion, language and customs. Many others were jailed or killed, and still others were driven into exile after being forced to turn over their land and resources to the government.
Those who fled had to cross a 200-mile section of India to reach Nepal, which doesn’t border Bhutan, where they remained for as long as 20 years.
The Bhutanese-Nepali refugees in Columbus, Tarey said, have made their homes primarily on the Northeast Side and in Gahanna and Reynoldsburg.
Both men said that capturing the refugees’ stories required them to gain their trust and friendship.
“Getting them to really tell you about their experience takes a little time and a little coaxing,” Rutledge said, “mostly because they’re so humble.”
Added Tarey: “They are telling me, ‘Why do you want to photograph me? What’s so special about me? Don’t all refugees go through this?’”
He and Rutledge gathered the interviews and photos— more than 100 in all — over several years of visiting homes and meeting families.
After the Ohio History Connection agreed to feature a selection of the photos in an exhibit, Tarey and Rutledge chose the 30 subjects they thought best represented the various viewpoints of those they met.
The exhibit, “BhutaneseNepali Neighbors,” was a natural fit for the Connection’s mission of telling the histories of the diverse groups in the state, said Burt Logan, executive director and CEO.
“It seemed like a good opportunity to talk both about the refugee experience but also about this particular community,” Logan said. “Tariq does a great job of just capturing the humanity and the personality; you feel a close affinity for these subjects.”
The museum plans to tour the exhibit after its run through Jan. 7.
Tarey and Rutledge have previously documented the plight of refugees in central Ohio — an issue close to their hearts.
In 2012, they made the documentary “Women, War and Resettlement: Nasro’s Journey,” which told the story of a Somali refugee. It aired on WOSU.
Rutledge, who has a doctorate in English from the University of Chicago, wrote the nonfiction book “The Somali Diaspora: A Journey Away” (2008), which follows a Somali family from a refugee camp to the United States.
For Tarey, the mission to chronicle their journeys was personal: He left his home in Somalia in the late 1990s for the United States, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2011.
Among other projects, the photographer documented the Somali community in Columbus in 2006 in “Forlorn in Ohio,” a gallery exhibit that featured 18 large-scale portraits of Somalis who arrived in central Ohio.
Since then, he said, many Somalians have found success in central Ohio as business owners and community leaders. Tarey hopes the Bhutanese-Nepali refugees adjust comfortably, too.
“What I want to see is the Bhutanese-Nepali refugees feeling they’re part of Ohio, that they belong in this country and they belong to this city.”