Art of Dis-bordering: The Politics of Migration Murals in Europe

ABSTRACT

This article engages with art, bordering, and migration, arguing that artistic interventions present great potential for disrupting narratives about migrants’ agency and life. This process of disconnecting migrants’ identity from their univocal representation as a product of borders is articulated in the text by paying attention to art on public display as dis-bordering. By examining public expressions of resistance to borders in the form of mural paintings, it is argued that these artistic interruptions can implicate us in the process of rethinking different aspects of migration to Europe. In the concluding section, the article considers the political messages of the murals of my hometown, Orgosolo, a small museum-village in Sardinia. The internationalism and activism of mural art in the town will be explored by considering murals that deal with migrants’ journeys and identity. Overall, the article seeks to encourage self-reflection about issues of migration and borders, re-imagining and contesting bordering through art.

KEYWORDS:

• dis-bordering
• art activism
• migration
• murals
• Europe‌

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Morrison T. (2019) The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations (Alfred A. Knopf), 5-6.

2 Morrison T., Interview with Jana Wendt (1998): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ0mMjII22I

3 “Europe starts putting up walls”, The Economist, 15 September 2015: https://www.economist.com/europe/2015/09/19/europe-starts-putting-up-walls

4 Hannah Ellis-Petersen, “Banksy uses Steve Jobs artwork to highlight refugee crisis”, The Guardian, 11 December 2015: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/dec/11/banksy-uses-steve-jobs-artwork-to-highlight-refugee-crisis. Banksy’s mural of Steve Jobs has been later defaced.

5 Angie Kordic, “What is the meaning of the new Banksy’s piece in Calais?”, WideWalls, 12 December 2015: https://www.widewalls.ch/banksy-steve-jobs-calais/ . This mural has been wiped out in 2017.

6 See Banksy, We are not all on the same boat: https://www.widewalls.ch/murals/banksy-were-not-all-in-the-same-boat

7 TheLocalFR, “UK street artist Banksy paints at Calais camp”, 14 December 2015. A picture of the mural is available at: https://www.thelocal.fr/20151214/uk-street-artist-banksy-paints-at-calais-camp-france-migration

8 Hannah Ellis-Petersen, “Banksy’s new artwork criticises uses of teargas in Calais Refugee Camp”, The Guardian, 24 January 2016: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jan/24/banksy-uses-new-artwork-to-criticise-use-of-teargas-in-calais-refugee-camp

9 See MTO’s Murals: https://twistedsifter.com/2015/08/the-mediterranean-tunnel-by-mto/

10 Ibid.

11 See BLU’s Mural in Melilla: https://streetartnews.net/2012/04/blu-new-mural-in-melila-spain.html

12 In the years following the unification of Italy, that is after the 1861, Italians started emigrating in mass to countries such as the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and the UK. Statistical recordings of these migratory movements are available since 1876. Leaving behind precarious social and economic conditions, Italians settled principally in the USA where they were subjected to discriminatory policies sustained by narratives that identified Italians as a people difficult to assimilate to the “American culture and society”. During those years, Italians were variously regarded as “trash”, “uneducated”, “criminal” and “illegal” beings, variously constituting a threat to societies of reception. For a more comprehensive analysis of Italian mass migration, and how Italians were perceived in the context of their arrival to “foreigner lands”, see Internazionale Storia, In cerca di fortuna. L’emigrazione italiana dall’ottocento ad oggi sulla stampa di tutto il mondo, n.1, November 2020.

13 Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo's The Fourth State: The Workers' Walk (1989-1901) – originally titled The Path of Workers - is an oil painting which is preserved in the Museum of the 20th Century in Milan. It depicts a scene of a labour strike and a street demonstration where three subjects – two men and a woman holding a baby in her arms – advance to the foreground of the image proceeding with determination and strength. Considered the exploited working class, the “Fourth Estate” draws on the classical French division of a society that was divided into three hierarchical orders – with the clearly on top, followed by the nobility and the commoners. The “fourth class” represents a social class which sustains bourgeoise’s enrichment without being regarded with the necessary political representation that their role grants them. For a more exhaustive analysis of the political implications of the painting see: https://flash---art.com/article/giuseppe-pellizza-da-volpedo-the-fourth-estate-1901/