The sculpture of four migrants on a raft claims their rights – Art and Theater – Culture

A bronze sculpture representing four migrants on a raft claims the rights of this population in Tijuana, on the US-Mexico border. The piece, created by the renowned Mexican artist Javier Marín, is dedicated to all migrants seeking a better life and to those who have lost their lives along the way, and can be seen in the vicinity of the border port of El Chaparral.

The work called ‘The noise generated by the collision of bodies’ It will be for a whole year on the esplanade of the checkpoint, a symbolic place for being the place where on two occasions migrant camps of various nationalities were set up hoping to cross into the United States.

The sculpture It shows four human figures -two male, one female and one child- sailing standing up on a raft towards an unknown port. Their bodies are upright, almost totally wrapped in draped fabric, where only the faces of human beings with history, fulfilled and frustrated dreams can be guessed.

Sandra Benito Vélez, president of the Javier Marín Foundation, shared with the media that the artist from Michoacán, who was not present at the ceremony, had the initiative to make this piece to remember that there are people who are in constant flux looking for better lives and that many lose their lives on those roads.

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“Jorge thought of all these anonymous people for many purposes, that’s why he wraps their figures, and he also thought of all the people who die in the attempt, they are embalmed bodies that for some people can symbolize death and for others anonymity, so he He wants to play with this double message,” he said.

The president of the foundation added that the Mexican artist is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and “we sought to take advantage, in the best of ways, of the impact that public art has on social issues”. He stressed that, based on this, this work was generated, which was previously in Tapachula, on the southern border of Mexico, so it is a symbolic act that it is now on the northern border, where it will remain on view for a year of the passers-by.

Benito Vélez stressed that for Marín it was very important that the work be in Tijuana because it is “such a significant border and with so much traffic, especially because of the influx it has had with migrant caravans and because it is one of the main points for this phenomenon. . It is very important to be in the place where the events are presented, not inside a museum, but where (are) the people who are experiencing this type of phenomenon“, he pointed.

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The Jorge Marín Foundation in collaboration with the Secretary of Culture of the state of Baja California will hold workshops in migrant shelters during the year that the sculpture will remain.

EFE