Artists Pay Tribute To Drowned Syrian Toddler

NEW DELHI: Social media has been shocked by a devastating image of a young boy’s dead body lying face down on a beach in Turkey. Three year old Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee, died when a boat carrying him, his family, and several others escaping the Syrian crisis, capsized. They were attempting to reach the Greek island of Kos, from where Aylan and his brother, five year old Galip, would travel to Canada -- where their aunt lives. Galip too drowned, as did their mother.

The photograph has become symbolic of the refugee crisis as well as the Syrian civil war, with thousands of people, including prolific commentators, circulating the image on social media with heartfelt messages. On Twitter, the Turkish hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik, or Humanity Washed Up Ashore, accompanied many of the messages.

Artists from all over the world also shared their tributes to Aylan, providing a voice to the larger discourse on migrants and conflict. Warning: Some of the images below are graphic.