In 2015, around 2,000,000 people crossed Turkey and the Mediterranean sea to seek asylum in Europe, the year before were 220,000.
They are people whose faces recur on the news at dinner time, whose stories we read in the columns of the newspapers, whose tricky lives we preceive walking thorugh the streets of our cities among Bengali groceries and Senegalese street vendors.
Human beings that we descrie though kindly or discriminatory labels, depending on our political beliefs.
But, how many times have we stopped, even for a few minutes, to exchange words with these new citizens with whom we share our public space, daily?
It is from this consideration that ClanDESTINI took form, a sound research started in Rome in 2014 which aims to stimulate awareness on migration issues, reactivating the curiosity of all citizens about what they do not know. A project that, in this contemporary frenzy, requires time and attention.
The project was developed in three phases: first, small mailboxes were scattered around the neighborhoods of Rome where anyone could post their question for the migrant people arrived to Italy.
These questions were then selected and addressed to citizens of foreign origin.
Finally, once edited, the answers became part of the installation.
The mannequins of ClanDESTINI today are the guardians of these answers.
All you have to do is ask them about their stories, approaching them, choosing your question and wearing headphones to listen to their answers.
At the end of the pathway the stories of some migrants are collected in a participatory video.
ClanDESTINI is an installation created, realized and mixed by Marco Stefanelli and Valentina Vivona
With the support of Amisnet Radio Agency and Echis
With the voices of Abdulrehman, Mady, Mande, Syed, Ismail