Memory refugees monument


Senegal
Humanitarian project
Not realized

Art has always been the universal language, able to transfer stories, legends and traditions beyond the limits dictated by a verbal language dependent on linguistic origins. Art is a tool to build a world that is more beautiful and rich in values, making itself the interpreter of messages and cultural values. This monument wants to express values of interculturality and respect between peoples and cultures, without stereotypes and prejudices. The " Monument in memory of the dead in the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea" is a project for SĂ©dhiou Region, in Senegal to sensitize the local communities trough the migration phenomenon who are so frequent in this region. The monument wants to evoke a path of discovery, adventure and contemplation, as elements characterizing the migration phenomenon but at the same time values that can create unity between peoples and cultures. The artistic installation is based on the realization of a forest of 250 local bamboo canes, with a diameter between 5 and 30cm, which draw a narrow path and embrace a central area aimed at contemplation, meditation, memory of the victims through the effect a perspective of the reeds that aim towards the sky. The bamboo rods metaphorically represent the broken lives, still at the bottom of the sea but which are blowing towards freedom thanks to the lightness of the material. Looking through the monument you will not be able to see what's behind it, as well as for the young people who try their hand in the so-called journey of hope, without knowing where they will arrive. There are those who manage to get beyond, crossing the bamboo forest, and those who unfortunately stop their journey in the sea or in the desert. This last element is represented precisely by the pipes themselves and by the central parking area. The monument will therefore be livable and with a human dimension, with an internal path between the reeds and a small central area for contemplation.

Africa monumen Raoul Vecchio architect