A small selection of the exhibition project Boat People.
A big thank to the team: Ondrej Zoričák (Slovakia), Brian Luque-Marcos (Spain), Maribel Dorfer (Austria) and Hitomi Mizutani (Japan).
At the entrance we start with a big eyecatcher showing the words: immigrants are…
Everybody has his own opinion about this topic but did they actually have experience with this theme? When the visitor comes closer to the wall he realizes that the background is not only black and white, it is a mosaic of faces, portraits of immigrants.
CONTENT AND PRESENTATION:
Every day, people around the world make the difficult decision to leave their homes and their countries. They may be fleeing war or persecution, or are forced to leave because of environmental disasters or poverty. They want safety and dignity for themselves and their families.
The lack of legal entry routes often forces people to place themselves in the hands of smugglers or traffickers to arrange a journey to Europe.
Most of the time the “new life” offers no possibilities: Yearlong waiting in a detention camp, clandestine working under worst conditions, and so on. Some achieve a sort of integration but become victims of xenophobia, discrimination and other human rights abuses.
These six examples of destinies stand for thousands of similar stories.
Six voices, stories of strong evidence of people full of hope: a secure place to live for a whole family, a place to work and enough money to live a better life, no fear of persecution and military despotism, future prospects and opportunities for their children.
All of the stories have been made anonymous to protect identities.
Each migrant’s story is told in a separate space. We also bring in the two different points of view, the general view and the personal view. In the general view we show statistics, articles, TV videos, all obviously displayed for the audience. The personal destinies are presented more hidden. A sound veil builds up the centre: The visitor can listen to the migrant, hear about his personal background, his preparation for the journey and the facts about the laborious journey itself.
In the adjacent cardboard boxes the visitor meets the family of the refugee, their circumstances, their destitution, their wishes.
PRESENTATION:
Each personal destiny is presented with a mosquito net, used in daily life everywhere Africa. It protects the most personal space, the own bed, where the migrants can have their hopes and dreams for a better life in Europe.
Cardboard is a cheap material. In Third World countries it is used in several ways, to improvise covering necessities. We transport stories and knowledge from the affected countries into the exhibition space.
CONTENT AND PRESENTATION:
When the visitor enters the paper boat, he finds himself in the middle of an actual boat trip. The sound and light installation, including wind generators, affects every sense and the loads of impressions might be upsetting. During five minutes a whole dramatic scenario including climax is projected: first you hear only waves and winds, low voices suddenly get interrupted by screams, panic and crying. The complex room installation blocks the visitor in just walking through. The floor is uneven as well as the sitting and lying areas and are all made from card board, shaped as waves.
boat size: 22m x 8m x 8m
room size: 10m x 4m
MATERIALS:
boat: solid construction out of honeycomb plates, surface printed with newspaper articles
inside: sound boxes, movable spotlights, wind generator, carton boards
Parallel to the personal view the general view is presented: with statistics, background information, news, articles, documentaries, …
CONTENT AND PRESENTATION:
The corridor is quite narrow and all around sharp edges and obstacles are fixed. A pedestrian bridge leads the visitors around in a safe way.
Size: 2m wide, 38m long, 4 crossroads, pedestrian bridge (1m x 23m; 0,3m above ground)
MATERIALS:
wood (23m² for bridge floor), construction wood, carton boards (184m²), ~35 pieces per m² (~7000) circular concrete carton (radius: 0,1m)
CONTENT AND PRESENTATION:
The light, cold and clean atmosphere is at first a shock for the eyes. Around 370 people died at the biggest boat tragedy at Lampedusa shore. The 39 empty boxes (multiplied by the mirrors on the wall) are associated to the masses of anonymous deaths and coffins, all organized in a raster. There are some places left free, because you don’t know how many tragedies are still coming.
Object: 39 “coffins”, mirrors, light
Size: 14m x 16m
MATERIALS:
39 x boxes 200cm (l)/ 70cm (w)/ 65cm (h), glass
mirrors on the wall: 2 times 14m x 3m, 2 times 16m x 3m
lights integrated in base underneath each box
CONTENT AND PRESENTATION:
This room cannot be entered because it is full of security barriers (mostly used at airports). After the long and arduous way of immigrants, some of them are sent back to their country by plane. This situation of flying – seen as a kind of luxury – is totally paradox, and simply paid for by the government. The majority of immigrants are deported for reasons like possessing no Visa, no Passport or any ID. Of course it is hard to prove that some of them are religious, political or economical refugees. Once their refugee status is denied, they are subject to repatriation. As one can imagine, asylum seekers as well as refugees are dealing with extreme adversity so complex that is difficult to express in simple terms. So often the bureaucratical blockades are not manageable for simple refugees and already the end of the “new” life.
Objects: modern (security) blockades with red bands, Flag of Europe
Size: 12m x 6m
MATERIALS:
120 textile belts, 16 aluminium stands, textile flag (6m x 3m)
CONTENT AND PRESENTATION:
From the ceiling are hanging robes to give this room a totally crowded impression. The floor is a huge picture showing refugees lying on sheets, towers or the naked floor. The visitor is free to move. It is his own decision if he steps on the sleeping refugees or searches a clear way around them. The walls are covered with fences. On some spots you can see more and more people try to enter the camp. Refugee camps in Europe are also called detention camp and have more of a prison atmosphere.
These people, right after some horrific fleeing journey from their homelands, are usually gathered in refugee camps waiting for a screening process to justify their refugee claims. The screening process is always harsh and can take incredibly long years to complete. According to a study, the average length of remaining in a protracted displacement situation for asylum seekers was nine years in the early 1990s, and is getting even worse these days (Loescher & Milner, 2009).
Objects: 1352 robes, oversized pictures, fences
Size: 9m x 6m
MATERIALS:
1352 pieces of robes (2m – 2,5m length) > 3000m
Printed PVC folia (54m²), covered fence (22m), barbed wire fence (30m), printed wall (16m²)
CONTENT AND PRESENTATION:
The visitor steps to a room which is bigger and its architecture reminds of a gallery, although the walls are still covered with fences. An art in the camp project was already initiated decades ago in Vietnam. A non-governmental organization put it also on the island of Lampedusa into action, 2 years ago.
The idea is simple: Yet for people who are undertaking extreme adversity, language is often inadequate to speak for their complex inner emotions. So the refugees are given paper and colours as part of a therapy and release their feelings.
Immigrants in refugee camps live in a prison-like environment with a bleak sense of hope, bearing various fears and tragic memories. The psychological and physical sufferings of these people are so complex and indescribable that the voices of their inner world often got muted. Over 600 pieces of works done by the boatpeople of all ages were collected. They were the inner voices made visible and recorded at the time.
Two extra video screens show more painting and interviews with participant immigrants telling about their better feeling inside.
The paintings are organized in 6 different themes: hoping, arrested, living, languishing, doubting and criticizing.
Objects: 24 paintings, 2 TV sets, 48 digital paintings, fences
Size: 9m x 12m
MATERIALS:
24 times 1m x 2m sized white press board, concrete wall (42m), barbed wire (42m), 2 TV sets and equipment.
CONTENT AND PRESENTATION:
The last crossroad is a corner, you cannot really see what is going on behind it, but the visitor realizes that the amount of edgy things on the walls reduces. Before you walk around the corner you hear the noise of a stamp machine and on the floor in front of you the words “Visa approved” appear. You move around the corner and the corridor is totally sterile, white walls and light grey tiles on the floor. However, the clean atmosphere gets disturbed by racist comments and positive statements directed at the visitors. The audio installation is connected with a movement sensor, so the voices are moving with you through the corridor.
Objects: Gobo, photo sensor, loud speakers, movement sensors, neon tubes
Size: 2m x 20m
MATERIALS:
floor tiles (40m²)
CONTENT AND PRESENTATION:
Every person has his own opinion on topics like “boat people”, “immigrants”, “refugees”. We give the visitors an opportunity to criticize, discuss and share their opinions in the exit area.
Everyone has the possibility to finish the sentence “immigrants are…” and share it on one of the big anchors. A box gives the chance to keep these words anonymous.
Objects: sitting possibilities, box, lighted anchor sculptures
Size: 10m x 12,9m
MATERIALS:
carton board (on wall), carton box, triangled post it- papers, textile membrane, metal structure, light
- Thank you! -
