Artist to set sail in former migrant boat
Lucy Wood will travel in a craft used by fleeing Libyans
By Ermanno Rivetti. News, Issue 237, July-August 2012
Published online: 03 July 2012
It took just over a year of negotiations with the Italian
authorities for the British artist Lucy Wood, who is represented by Upstream
Gallery in Amsterdam , to obtain a boat that was
used to transport Libyans to Italy
The Sicilian island Lampedusa’s position between the
Italian and African coasts has, over the years, made it a destination for
refugees from North Africa, who see it as a gateway to Italy and Europe. In a
bid to encourage debate around migration and refugees, Wood plans to
single-handedly sail the nine metre-long boat from Lampedusa to London Malta ,
Sicily , Naples ,
Rome , Genoa , Monaco , Marseilles ,
Arles , Avignon ,
Paris , Brussels
and Amsterdam before making her way up the Thames .
Conceived as a piece of performance art, the boat contains
items left by the original migrants as well as objects stored and collected by
Wood during her stay in Lampedusa. The performance is intended to draw
attention to the conditions that many migrants face during their dangerous
journeys: Wood wants to invite local cultural institutions and artists to
collaborate on talks and events at different stops on her voyage.
Wood is adamant that her piece does not take a political
stance, and insists she is doing it to raise awareness. “The local government
was initially concerned I’d use the boat against them, politically speaking,”
she says, “but I’m just the messenger”. This piece is the fourth part of Wood’s
project about migration, called “Distant Neighbours”, which she started in Mexico
No comments:
Post a Comment