Installation open to the public on the terrace of King René Tower

Large orange flags fly at the entrance to the Old Port of Marseille. Their colour is a familiar one: they were made from life jackets, the very same that we have come to recognize through the media saga of the migrant tragedy.

Raised on the terrace of King René Tower at Fort Saint-Jean, the flags are visible both by land and by sea, like a beacon of hospitality in the Mediterranean, a cry of hope to those coming from “over there”, but also to those living here.

Conceived by Italian artist Gandolfo Gabriele David, this installation was created in June 2016 for a prefiguration of an exhibition for a “Museum of Trust and Dialogue for the Mediterranean” on the island of Lampedusa, organizied by Uffizzi Galery, national museum of Bardo and Mucem. It bears a message of peace, tolerance and welcome, all values that Europe will need to recall if it is to be able to measure up to the migrant crisis.

Gandolfo Gabriele David

Artist and designer Gandolfo Gabriele David lives and works in Palermo, Italy. His work focuses in particular on the themes of nature and community through installations that employ land art and urban art techniques, updated to include a participatory dimension. He is a member of Dimora OZ, a visual and performing arts laboratory based in Palermo.