Norwegian Store Displays Syrian Home Replica to Show Horrors of War

A new initiative from the Red Cross in Norway and Ikea, a giant furniture manufacturer, designed by ad agency POL, is aimed at bringing the realities of the civil war home by creating an exact replica of Syrian people’s accommodation for shoppers to explore for themselves.

According to a report covered by Hamshahri Online, the project called ’25 metres of Syria’ was nestled among the other showrooms at Ikea’s flagship store outside Oslo. It features stories and more information about Syrian families and the war written on Ikea’s iconic information tags dotted on objects throughout the tiny 25m² installation, as well as calls to action explaining how people can help or donate.

The replica of the Syrian home was an incredibly successful awareness raising project: the campaign’s creators said that 40,000 people visited the store while the installation was up in October, many of them just to see the Syrian home.

The wider fundraising effort raised £19million towards Syrian humanitarian relief, the Red Cross said.