Miriadi

Site-specific installation

(2023)

In the summer of 2023, I created a track of phosphorescent paint on a mountain trail that connects Italy and France.

The landmarks are visible at night, on the Italian side.

By following them, after a fifty-minute walk, one can reach the ridgeline of the mountain, on which a massive metal fence is placed, marking the geographical border between the two countries since the end of World War II.

In the past century, this trail was taken by Jewish people fleeing Nazi persecution and Italians looking for work in the post-war period. Many of them lost their lives on the crossing, due to the darkness and the dangerous nature of some sections.

In 2015, after France reinstated patrols at its border with Italy to limit the flow of undocumented immigrants, the trail has been walked once again by individuals coming from the Global South and traveling North, either to France or other European countries.

During my stay in the area, I witnessed the many difficulties they encounter on the way: often, at night, in the dark, they endanger themselves in an attempt to find the correct path among the many that cross the mountain.

For this reason, I wanted to trace a safe path, using a special phosphorescent paint that can resist for the next ten years; I have applied it only to boulders and rocks rooted in the ground, to guarantee that the route won’t be altered.

The function of my intervention is not intended to be decisive in reaching the French border, as migrants have always used the trail, even before the existence of these tracks.

Instead, the intention is to provide, possibly, a little comfort to people in transit, an attempt to care for those who find themselves lost, frightened, confused in the midst of darkness and uncertainty.

My care, in realizing the nocturnal photographs, has been to bring earth and sky closer together, creating a connection between the luminous rocks and the stars, which have always guided migrants and determined their destinies.