The members of (translating to Resistant Art) are Gianluigi, Barbara, Ilaria, Giuseppe, Marco and Caterina. As artists and political activists, they created their work 'Mediterraneo' when Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini visited their hometown Atri, in Abruzzo, in February 2019.
They wanted to use their art to explicitly criticise the Italian government's migration policies. As a relatively simple yet evocative concept 'Mediterraneo' is a public installation of cardboard silhouettes of hands placed on the ground.
The raised hands, typically placed in the piazzas or squares of Italian towns such as Atri, are a symbol of the individuals- refugees and asylum seekers - who have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in journeys to seek refuge in Europe.
'Mediterraneo' is not only an artwork, Gianluigi tells SBS Italian, "It is also an instrument of political struggle."
'Mediterraneo' is a traveling, adaptable work that can be replicated anywhere by anyone thanks to a created by the Arte Resistente collective, which explains step-by-step how people can replicate the work in their cities if they so desire.
Arte Resistente has also supplied instructions for people around Italy and the world to reproduce the artwork, if they so desire Source: Courtesy of Arte Resistente/Cinisello Balsamo, Biblioteca digitale di Villa di Breme Forno dell'università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca
Gianluigi tells SBS Italian his collective wanted to, "bring a piece of the Mediterranean Sea into every square of Italy to take people into the tragedy of those left at sea and not helped."
On some occasions, local administrations have removed the installations. However, Gianluigi says that when citizens have the opportunity to see 'Mediterraneo' in their cities and to walk through the work, they understand and are shocked because for a moment they find themselves immersed in the tragic situation.
The artwork has been already replicated in several Italian cities. In many cases citizens who have replicated 'Mediterraneo' contacted Arte Resistente to tell them how they felt. Gianluigi says many said they had experienced "a very deep and a very emotional moment in their lives, because in every hand that they placed on the ground they could feel the meaning of each life lost in the sea."
'Mediterraneo' is also an environmentally-conscious artwork that can be reproduced using recyclable and recycled materials.
"In the latest version of the tutorial you'll see that it can be done using plastic bottles, old clothes, cardboard and some rubber bands - objects that you can easily find at home," says Gianluigi.
