Jason de Caires Taylor, American
Raft of Lampedusa, 2016
“You have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
No one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear
saying-
leave,
run away from me now
i don’t know what i’ve become
but i know that anywhere is safer than here”
- Warsan Shire, “Home”
When I read this poem, I knew that I wanted to find an art piece that commemorates refugees that die at sea. Such a deeply tragic reality, where desperation leads to people putting themselves in risky situations for the hope of a better life. According to Paul Van Blum’s article, hundreds of refugees have drowned in shipwrecks off of the Italian coast in just 2023 alone. Cases of refugee shipwrecks happen all of the time, rarely does it make the news, and rarely does anyone pay attention when it does. However, Taylor’s underwater museum brings light to this issue. Made from marine grade cement, this piece sits underwater, based on “the Raft of Medusa,” a famous piece which highlights the doomed fate of shipwrecked sailors. The piece is of a unsturdy boat carrying 13 passengers, all of which look tired, and potentially malnourished and dehydrated. This boat leads them deeper into the unknown ocean, with no true destination. This shows the risks that refugees will take in order for the potential of hope. Label by Riley Kelley