Joao Ladiera

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) -The UN Migration Agency, more than 173 008 people arrived by sea in Italy in 2015 alone. Of that more than 96 525 from Africa, who came from Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, The Gambia, Mali and Nigeria arrived alive (IOM). “The central Mediterranean route, ending at Lampedusa or the main island of Sicily, accounts only for about a quarter of almost 1.5 million people who have arrived since 2014 on all routes, but for 88% of all migrant deaths in the Mediterranean,”( The Guardian).

The voyage from Libya across the Mediterranean to Italy is currently the main route to Europe for migrants. A record 181,000 made the journey in [2019], most on flimsy boats run by people smugglers. (The Guardian). The Corona Virus Pandemic did not reduce the number of immigrants trying to cross the Sea.

This tragedy raises awareness of our own passivity to injustice, human suffering and violence and neglect. It illuminates how we, as bystanders, divorce ourselves through our silence, viewing the story through filtered lenses, essentially perpetuating the suffering and consigning of migrants to a status of the ‘Other’, detached and dissimilar to ‘me’, ‘you’ and ‘us’. I also draw parallels in how similar ‘you’ and ‘we’ are to ‘him’ and ‘them’. I chose to work in a combination of drawing, collage and paintings, where images consist of collage, drawings and painting on canvas. My choice of multimedia is deliberate and has to do with the fact that as an art form, it includes different properties that come together to create one body of work, echoing the migrant’s story where people from all backgrounds find themselves in the same journey to first world countries, with a goal to pursue of a better life.

Inspired by the works of artist Kara Walker’s cut-paper silhouettes, I make use of cut-out figure drawings almost like silhouettes instead of two dimensional painted figures, suggesting loss of identity, or not belonging to any particular place.  The spread-out bodies in my canvas suggest mass tragedy, conceptually and metaphorically this presentation of multiple images epitomises the life of the migrants that have become routine and taken for granted. By using collage, on the fabric as a background, manipulating the images on the fabric, I try to bring an element of uniqueness to the works just as the unique cold, dark, deep and stormy Sea experience that some migrants go through the crossing ordeal. 

Inspired by the popular say: ”the narrow gate leads to greatness”, many migrants undertake the journey for themselves and also for the family left behind; which they aim to assist in future.” 

This has become a practice from of the most impoverished regions of East, Central and West African countries, predominantly from Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, The Gambia, Mali and Nigeria.                  

However, there are always two sides to the story, whenever there is a situation, no matter how painful, there are always those who seize the opportunity to make a profit out of people’s misery. According to (Sunday Times) “Remittances” are a key player in this process. Many African governments benefit from the money sent back to their expatriates from overseas in their billions. On the other hand, also overseas countries benefit from imposing charges on those billions sent to poor countries, at times in very high percentages.

I am as well inspired by works of contemporary artists such as the British/Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, the South Korean artist Kim Sooja, Kara Walker or Kehinde Wiley’s to name a few.

I work mostly with “brightly coloured Dutch wax fabric” that is widely used in most African countries. Today the Dutch wax fabric is commonly regarded as a symbol of African attire, where it became known as “African print fabrics”.  This represents a “borrowed” identity in the globalized world. This topic is explored by artist Yinka Shonibare who dresses up his eighteenth-century artworks figures with brightly coloured Dutch wax fabrics to explore issues of cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation

“African Print Fabrics”, are known by different names in Africa. Kitenge, Kanga, Capulana, Adire, Congo fabrics, are just some of the names they are commonly known in different countries. Many refugees, displaced by wars, famine and other social evils, use these fabrics for wrapping up bundles with their belongings, to carry their children, and move from place to place. The same idea is used by South Korean artist Kim Sooja in her work called “Buttari Truck”, where we see bundles of personal belongings tied up with brightly coloured fabrics, ready to move around. The use of brightly colourful Wax Print Fabric adds a playful element to my work. For me, is it a unique occasion to celebrate the life of many innocent people in pursuit of a better life? Metaphorically, playfulness, in this case, can be linked with the idea of a playground for politicians or smugglers who make a profitable business out of this tragedy.

I portray refugees, men, women and children stripped from their dignity as humans. Their extraordinary lives have been reduced to one word “struggle”. The challenges that they face, such as lack of job, housing, privacy, electricity, water or poor sanitation, which ends up with the tragedy at the Sea cannot be divorced from the “poor governance or leadership” from countries where they come from. A condition that has become a norm in most African countries.                                                                                                                 

For me, these works represent an opportunity for an exceptional moment to contribute meaningfully to the current discourse on the displacement of people and social cohesion. This is an opportunity to give voice to the voiceless through art. It is a moment for civic engagement to inspire compassion and to return ‘Ubuntu’ and the human face to the suffering of the marginalized members of our communities. This is also an opportunity to celebrate the greatness of this Continent. As an artist, I believe to have a social responsibility to make a positive comment, no matter how small, to engage his audience in this dialogue. I further believe that by shifting the focus from the negative and confrontation, as manifest in this tragedy and brutal images, I will be giving a chance to the audience to relook at the migrants, men, women and children from a different angle. Consequently, this act aims to restore the dignity of the migrants and sensitise the passive spectator to take an interest in the suffering of migrants. 

I make a connection between my own story and the images of the migrants I portray, due to the fact that I am an immigrant myself, and for many years I lived with anxiety about the next step to follow. I often ask myself, what is going to happen to me next? Will I get the right documentation to stay in the country? Will I be able to find a job? Am I going back to my country? All these questions fill up my mind 10 times a day and create tension within me.