Unfocused: migration and refugee stories

PHOTOGRAPHIC AND IMMERSIVE EXHIBITION

From February 14th to March 2nd, 2024
Space n-1, first floor General Library UPV (building 4L). See map
Inauguration: Wednesday, February 14th at 6:30 p.m.

Commissariat:Fernando Canet and Adrian Mantilla

Last June marked the fifth anniversary of the arrival of the humanitarian rescue ship in the port of Valencia.Aquarius. This boat, chartered by Médecins Sans Frontières and SOS Mediterranee, saved 629 people from drowning in the central Mediterranean off the coast of Libya. That episode triggered an unprecedented crisis within the EU – still unresolved – that dynamited the already weak common migration policy. More than 600 journalists from 140 national and international media echoed the arrival of the boat in Valencia, which provoked an unprecedented wave of solidarity.

The exhibition “Unfocused: stories of migration and refuge” deals with migration in the city of Valencia not only through the memory of this event but also through an approach to how the lives of the survivors have been during these more than five years. It does so through two forms of expression: the photographic medium and the emerging immersive medium. Regarding the former, the exhibition contains more than 50 photographs taken by some twenty nationally renowned photographers. Regarding the second, the visitor will be able to consume an example of immersive narrative entitledFive years laterThe third approach to the subject is the use of the latest generation of virtual reality goggles. As a third approach to the subject,the visitor will receive the comic book as a gift.Why Spain?by Loopy Teller Studio and Aquarius Survivors, illustrated byCarlos Vallésabout the reality of the survivors and their struggle to achieve a dignified life.



ROUND TABLE

Thursday, February 29th at 6:30 p.m.
Venue: Space n-1, first floor of the UPV General Library (building 4L).

In addition, to learn first-hand about their stories, a round table discussion has been scheduled as part of this exhibition, which will be attended by:Moses Von KallonPresident of the Aquarius Survivors Association;Boutaina El HadriDirector of the School of Citizenship and General Secretary of the Migrant Force Movement;Kassim Dambelepresident of the Nourdine association;Lorena Tortosamember of the executive board of the Unió de Periodistes Valencians. Moderator:Fernando CanetProfessor of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising at the UPV.

This exhibition is organized by the Aquarius Survivors Association and the Cultural Action Area of the Vice-Rectorate for Art, Science, Technology and Society of the Universitat Politècnica de València.

Collaborators:
Médicos sin Frontera, Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR), CESÁfrica, Espai Obert El Marítim, Escuela de Ciudadanía, Movimiento Fuerza Migrante and Jovesólides.
Cooperation Area and Social Action Area of the UPV.

Funded by the research project:Immersive prosocial audiovisual narratives: measuring their impact on society and analyzing their formal and technological characteristics. (CIAICO/2021/258, 2022-2044, Conselleria d’Innovació, Universitats, Ciència i Societat Digital de la Generalitat Valenciana)