Shapeless Shapes

“This compelling book developed by one of the world’s leading actors on statelessness, demonstrates the cost of collective apathy and marginalisation on real lives. Can you stand for the erasure of identity? Will you turn away because it does not concern you? Or will you take a stand with those that work to hold power accountable?”

Joshua Castellino
Executive Director, Minority Rights Group International

“The world was full of shapes…”

Welcome to a world in which every shape has its rightful place, fits in and conforms. Until they no longer do. Shapes also move around, explore, fall in love with other shapes and create a more interesting world, in which identity and belonging are no longer strictly defined by shape alone. A messier world, in which some shapes are erased and are made shapeless by powerful shapes. These shapeless shapes are denied their basic rights and are excluded. They are cast out. But some of them come together to fight back, demanding their rights and the recognition of their shapes.

Shapeless Shapes is a graphic novel about identity, belonging, history, freedom, discrimination, injustice, activism and statelessness. The book adopts an allegorical approach to exploring some of the most pressing contemporary challenges we face. This beautifully designed book provides much food for thought on racism, xenophobia and populism, and the role of activism in calling out and confronting injustice.

Shapeless shapes is a fairy tale, a history book, a call to action to shape our future!

It tells a story of a world that was, is and can be.

Shapeless Shapes was imagined into existence and designed by artist and social justice advocate Hanna Kim, with words by human rights advocate Amal de Chickera. It is a publication of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (www.institutesi.org), which is the first and only human rights NGO dedicated to working on statelessness globally and promoting inclusive societies by realising and protecting everyone’s right to a nationality .