Off-shore a) adj. situated at sea some distance from the shore; ~ wind blowing towards the sea from the land. ~ fisheries away from the beach; b) adv. to fish in open sea; ~ economy relating to the business of extracting oil or gas from the seabed; made, situated, or registered abroad.

MAUC2006

Dictionariesstillignorethattheexpressionoffshore tendstodescribeapopulationdeprivedofterritory.

Apopulationmadeofpersonsthatshareexperiencesofextremepoverty.

Personstowhomtheseahasbecomethelastbarrierbetweenthemselvesandanormallife.

Towhomtheideaoffacingopenseainsomeimprovisedraftoranovercrowdeddecrepitboatseemsnatural:theyhavenothingtoloose.

TheincreaseofmigratoryflowshasbeenleadingtothewideningofEuropeanborderstowardsthesouthernedgeoftheMediterranean:

SpanishterritorialenclavesofCeutaandMelilla,MaltaandtheItalianislandofLampedusaarticulateinacomplexborderarea.

Themaritimebarrierthickens:enclavesareforbiddenareas,patrolledandentrapped.Migrantsarealmostinevitablywithheld.

Toprevent‘repatriation’ theygetridofalldocumentationofnationalidentity.

Theyassumethemselves,only,ashumanbeings,condemnedtogazeatEurope,offshore,fromthewrongsideofthefence.

Thisisacontemporaryissueintheverysenseoftheword:itoccursinthisinstantand,furthermore,inhere.

Wecanonlystarttograspthecomplexityofthisissuefromtheperspectivereturnedtousfromtheothersideofthefence.

Astrangeideaof‘Europe’:incaptivity,un-equalandhostile.

OffshoreinstallationdepartedfromtheconfrontationbetweenobjectsfromtheMAUCcollectionsandcontemporaryattitudestowardsthedescendantsoftheproducersandformerusersofthoseobjects.

Suchattitudesdenoteacompellingrecurrence.

Objects,therefore,underwenttwotypesofreclassification.

AfirstexercisedepartedfromtheAfricanextractionofthesmashingmajorityoftheoffshorepopulation.

ThecontextofpovertyofAfricancountriesissuppliedinafirstphase,suggestingthatperhapsonehasreallynothingtolose,whenoneisborninacountrywherelifeexpectancyisclosetonothingandthepercentageoftotalpopulationlivingwiththeequivalenttolessofoneeuroperdayishuge.

Wedislocatedtheartifactstowardsarawethnographyofinequality.Wesuggestthisisthemainreasontomigrate,eventuallytogoonboard,perhapstoshipwreck.

Thenumbersarecommentedbyhumanremains,whichhadgiventothecoast,collectedduringtheassemblyoftheinstallationandtreatedasmaterialmetaphorstotheshipwrecksthatoccur,forafact,intheattempttoreachanormallife.

Asecondreclassificationwascenteredintheselectionofattitudestowardsobjectsthatarealso,today,attitudestowardsthecitizens.TheAstonishmentinitiallydisclosedby‘Curios’ gaveplacetoamassiverecollectionofweaponsthatfollowedthecolonialoccupation.

AstonishmentgaveplacetoFear,which,today,issecludedinCeuta,MelillaorLampedusa.

Suspicion,derivedfromconfrontationwithapparentlyirrationalpractices,pavedwaytoAbuse,thatframescurrentformsoftheillegalor,simply,slavework,thathasbecometheEuropeanshelterreservedtomembersofoffshorepopulations.