VISUAL PRESCRIPTION: Martin Travers- Audiopharmacy family- Amsterdam

Martin is an unbelievably talented muralist typically portraying real life struggles and beauties.  This one of his more recent pieces painted at the YAAM in Berlin.  Beautiful. 

The central figure is an old woman, on one side is an eagle.The eagle is an African Fish Eagle which is endangered, fighting for survival. In many cultures the bird is symbolic of the connection between past and present, the spirit world and the material one. It is in the same position as the West African mythological SANKOFA bird, Looking back at the past. A past rife with struggling to survive,Colonialism, the middle passage (slavery). The image under the flying eagle is the diagram used for counting how many slaves fit on one ship. To her right is the present day. Representing how people are struggling to survive in this concrete jungle. The mask is a power symbol, giving the strength to carry on.
Many people come to Europe and America from Africa with an idea that life will be easy, money and aspirations easier to reach than back home. This idea is sold to them through corporate advertising, TV and so forth. The reality though is very different. Most are forced through lack of options to take the hardest jobs for meagre salaries, confronted by racism everyday. With the dream shattered the struggle to survive continues.