Lucy & George Orta

Lucy + Jorge Orta | Antarctic Village - No Borders, 2007, courtesy Galleria Continua, San Gimignano - Beijing. Photo: JJ Crance

According to the Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959, the continent's territory is a protected ecosystem and as such cannot be used neither for military purposes nor commercial exploitation. The Antarctic contains 70% of the planet's fresh water reserves in the form of ice and, today, its name evokes the slow melting of the ice caused by global warming. In 2007 Lucy + Jorge Orta went to the inhospitable land on an artistic and social research expedition.

The tents, survival kits, videos and mobile aid units created by the artists as a result of their expedition to the edge of the world are having their first public showing at the Hangar Bicocca in Milan. Hangar Bicocca is real big. Before being a space dedicated to contemporary art, it was a vast industrial factory that manufactured bobbins for electric train motors.

The star of the exhibition is Antarctic Village. Made of 50 dwellings that bring out the images of refugee camps broadcast on tv, the installation is a symbol of the plight of those struggling to cross borders and to gain the freedom of movement necessary to escape political and social conflict. The temporary encampment was envisioned as a free, neutral territory in a place where living conditions are so extreme that it imposes a situation of mutual aid and solidarity, no matter your nationality.

The tents are hand stitched with sections of flags from around the world, along with clothes and gloves, symbolising the multiplicity and diversity of people. A recent UN source states that 2.2 million migrants, mainly from the African and Asian continents, will arrive in the rich world every year from now until 2050. The artists go beyond their comment on the free circulation of individuals across the whole planet by proposing an amendment to the Universal Declaration of Human Right that would include the right to free circulation, on par with merchandise, economic flows and pollution.

Antarctic Village - No Borders, Drop Parachute

Antarctica World Passport, International Delivery Bureau, 2008

Bureau construction, reclaimed chairs, red cross crates, various reclaimed objects, passport stamps, ink pads, Antarctica World Passports

Dimensions: Variable

Exhibition history: 2012 Tufts University Gallery, USA; 2010 Festival des Arts Auxois, France; 2009 Maison Europeene de la Photographie, Paris; 2008 Hangar Bicocca Milan, Italy; Galleria Continua Le Moulin, France

Courtesy: Galleria Continua San Gimignano / Beijing / Le Moulin and the Artists

Concept: The Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959 states that this sixth continent is a common territory, open to all peaceful peoples and to cultural and scientific cooperation. The edition of the first 10,000 Antarctica World Passports imagined by Lucy + Jorge Orta is a proposal for a new world community. It is a document that recognises the inherent dignity of every member of the human race and their equal and inalienable rights shall constitute the basis of liberty, justice and peace in the world. The Antarctica World Passport proposes an amendment to Article 13 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Art. 13 :3 “Every human being has the right to move freely and cross frontiers to their chosen territory. Individuals should not be deemed of an inferior status to that of capital, trade, telecommunication and pollution, all of which have no boundaries. The passports are distributed during exhibitions or conferences to persons wishing to become a citizen and form part of an online database developed by MIT. On deliverance the passport requests in return that each new citizen dedicate him or herself to combat all acts of barbarity, to fight against intimidation and poverty, to support social progress, to protect the environment and endangered species, to safeguard human dignity and to defend the inalienable rights to liberty, justice and peace in the world

Materials: Wooden valise, Lambda photograph laminated, glass, 10 Antarctica World Passports, hand turned wooden passport stamp with rubber embossed motif. Edition of 25

Dimensions: 20 x 35 x 10 cm

Catalogued: Antarctica, Electa Mondadori, 2008, pp.130-131; Lucy + Jorge Orta: Food Water Life, Princeton Architectural Press NY, 2011, pp.150-151

Exhibition history: 2008 Hangar Bicocca Milan; 2008 Galleria Continua La Moulin; 2009 Galerie Motive Amsterdam

Concept:
Antarctica World Passports is an ongoing conceptual component of Lucy +Jorge Orta’s project Antarctic Village – No Borders (1992-2008), which reflects on the Antarctic continent as a new vision of Utopia. The artists have chosen Antarctica because the Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959 by Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, South Africa, and the USSR states that this sixth continent is a neutral and common land, free of conflict, open to all peaceful peoples and a place for cultural and scientific cooperation.

The edition of this small valise containing ten Antarctica World Passports takes the form of a kit, to be issued to every person wishing to become a citizen of this continent and allowing them to travel freely throughout the world. On deliverance it will request in return that each citizen take responsibility for their actions. The new world citizen will dedicate him or herself to combat all acts of barbarity, to fight against intimidation and poverty, to support social progress, to protect the environment and endangered species, to safeguard human dignity and to defend the inalienable rights to liberty, justice and peace in the world. 

Antarctica World Passport, International Delivery Bureau, 2008.