The Migrant (Moving) Image - Departure: Harraga
Art institute A Tale of a Tub created a programme in reaction to the present migrant crisis. The Migrant (moving Image) throws new light on our shifting world, which is inseparably linked with migration. There is more beyond the cliché images: the complexity and impact on the individual and on society of people severed from their roots cannot be captured in pigeonhole terms like ‘victim’ or ‘criminal’, as the work of artists like Isaac Julien and Nicolas Provost demonstrates. Guestspeakers are Abdelkader Benali, Bas Heijne and Hamza Halloubi.
The first part of the programme deals with illegal migrants, who are called “Harragas” in Arabic, a sobriquet literally meaning: “those who burn”. To prevent them from being returned at border control points, migrants burn their passports, thus radically severing the ties with their past. During their flight and upon arrival in a new homeland they break through political, social and economic boundaries – a complex and painful process.
That migration can also involve something else than what emerges from the sensational images the mass media feeds us, images that incite both pity and distrust, is something that artists are able to show us. Migration is perhaps also a way of shaking off an imposed identity – without papers, are we not all equal?
Part 1 of The Migrant (Moving) Image includes work by multimedia artists from Morocco, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium and Albania (Ursula Biemann, Center for Political Beauty, Hamza Halloubi, Isaac Julien, Adrian Paci and Nicolas Provost). Guestspeakers are Abdelkader Benali, Bas Heijne and Hamza Halloubi (Q&A).
The Migrant (Moving) Image was developed by the Rotterdam art institute A Tale of a Tub and is curated by Nathanja van Dijk in collaboration with EYE. The programme was funded by the Mondriaan Fonds, the DeltaPORT Donatiefonds and Mendes Wood DM. The presentation in EYE is supported by the Amsterdam Fund for the Art.
Part 2 will be screened on Tuesday 13 September (Transit: Centro di Permanenza Temporanea)
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