2014
video, color, sound, 6’41”
(video stills) / footage Youtube
My work Mare Nostrum was developed during a collaborative research with the refugees collective. We Are Here (part of the Learning Programme host by BAK). Composed of footage found on YouTube, the work deals with several aspects and consequences of migration from Africa to Italy for both the refugees and the hosting country: the dangers of the sea, rescue efforts by Italian institutions, the gestural responses of a religious leader, and reactions of ordinary people to what is often called an “invasion” from Africa. The images, originally published by YouTube subscribers, demonstrate how the phenomenon of migration has captured people’s imaginations from humanistic, religious, and political points of view. The work also draws attention to the context of the footage’s initial publication and circulation, largely driven by the media, which decide what to and what not to show in an effort to sway public opinion.
.
Public screenings:
LEARNING PLACE: SCREENING AND DISCUSSION, BAK Basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht (2014)
CIRCULAR PERMUTATION-IN BETWEEN NEGATIVE SPACE, W 139 Amsterdam (2015)
WE ONLY COME OUT AT NIGHT, Wow’s Green Gallery, Amsterdam WOW Amsterdam (2019)
.