Paper short abstract:

In recent years many migrant artist-activists have produced visual repertoires of border-crossing that challenge binaries of the "seen" and the "unseen". Weaving between anthropology of migration and art-activism, this paper revisits the notion of trespass.

Paper long abstract:

In September of 2015 an image emerged as an iconic symbol of displacement endured by migrants and refugees out of the Middle East and North Africa. The image of Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old Kurdish boy, faced down and lifeless on the pebbled beaches of Bodrum, revealed the scale of human suffering embodied in the figure of the displaced. Captured in this photo, border-crossing and displacement were humanized evoking ideas of empathy, dignity, and social responsibility.

The visual power of an “artistic eye” - in this case manifested as a photograph - revealed a sense of urgency about the predicament refugees arriving at Europe's doorstep faced. Interestingly, here, the catastrophic loss of life endured by the border-crossing migrant body is transformed into the language of a “European crisis!” While millions more remain stateless and/or forced into temporary camps across the “Political South,” once trespassed into the European shores, the figure of the “displaced” becomes both “visible” while posing a threat to the “stability” and “coherence” of European identity, economy, and political-economy.

In recent years artistic expressions have come to stand as effective modes of mobilization against the growing xenophobia against border-crossing "other." Many migrant artist-activists have produced visual repertoires of crossing border, thus opening new spaces for dialogue between the "seen" and the "unseen".

Weaving between anthropology of migration, refugee studies and art-activism, this paper revisits the notion of trespass and exile - how can art be an integral part of the story of the "displaced" arriving in Europe?