3041,19 KM

“3,041,19 km” project originated from an article in the Guardian newspaper about the involvement of a French consul in businesses involving the sale of rubber boats to Turkish smugglers. These same boats were used to transport migrants / refugees illegally from Turkey to Greece, for amounts ranging from 1000 up to 1500 euros per head.  Pedro Pires realized a journey on the island of Lesbos in March 2016, to work as a volunteer and research as an artist. He helped a non-governmental institution ERCI and took part in many arrivals of refugees and migrants’ boats that daily reach the beaches of the island. Pedro Pires also collected numerous abandoned objects on these beaches and was in contact with the reality of this island.

The project aimed to question the reaction and involvement of the EU in this wave of people arriving to this continent, the social and political consequences of these events and the relation between the countries that make up the European Union and its ideals.

Lisbon e Lesbos are situated at opposite ends of Europe, one city is located in the west and the other at the east. This project drew a symbolic approach between these two realities. 3.041,19 km aimed to raise issues relating to the creation of new demographics and European identities and also addressed the socio-economic ideals of Europe and its constituent countries. Therefore for this exhibition, it was created discursive and educational platform that took place along the art exhibition, allowing the audience to have a richer and deeper understanding of the current European policies that are affecting modes of perception of the “other”. Thus the curator in collaboration with the artist Pedro Pires and Edge Arts, invited for a public debate the Syrian artist Issa Touma, PAR – the Refugee Support Platform, represented by Margarida Pinto Correia and The High Commission for Migration, Pedro Calado, that took place on the 28^th September, at LEAP auditorium.

Works