A floating infant clinging to a doormat: this is Federico Clapis' installation for migrants

It is titled Welcome (?) and is the most recent installation by Federico Clapis (Milan, Italy, 1987), an Italian contemporary artist who is well known especially on the web also because of his past as a youtuber. The work includes a realistic doll with the features of a baby migrant, an infant who is in danger of drowning in the middle of the sea and who, in order to stay afloat, tries to cling to a doormat with the inscription “welcome” (“welcome”). Clapis let it be known that the work was created with the goal of auctioning it off and giving the proceeds to the organization Mediterranea Saving Humans.

The NGO, which did not commission the work but is simply the recipient of any proceeds from the sale (and also provided the material support to launch it at sea), carries out rescue operations at sea with the ship Mare Jonio. At the moment, however, it is stationary as it has recently returned to its possession after two months of seizure, and is therefore waiting to equip it to ply the Mediterranean again: in order to do so, the organization has also launched a crowdfunding campaign with the goal of raising the 150 thousand euros needed to return to the sea.

The work, according to Clapis’ intentions, should raise awareness of the urgency of saving the migrants who cross the Mediterranean every day, and the importance of welcoming them in the best way possible. Clapis, a previously much-discussed artist, asked social media users (where he posted an image of the installation) what they thought of his new work. But the base proved to be very divided: while there was no shortage of supportive and appreciative comments, there were also those who accused him of exploiting the migrant issue, those who accused him of bad taste and lack of originality, those who accused him of just wanting to advertise, and still others accused him of being trivial and exploiting the mainstream topic of the moment. And there are also those who argue that the real work of art is to have asked for a comment knowing that he was able to trigger the “virtual brawl” between two opposing poles.

Meanwhile, the operation has gone viral. “A project with great symbolic value,” reads a note from Mediterranea Saving Humans, “which was released at sea by the crew of the ship Mare Jonio with the aim of reminding everyone of the need for a concrete commitment to save migrants in the Mediterranean especially after the Decreto Sicurezza Bis.” The artwork is the brainchild of Federico Clapis and Sergio Spaccavento, creative director of the creative agency Conversion: in the coming hours it will still be left at the mercy of the waves, then it will be recovered and auctioned.

A floating infant clinging to a doormat: this is Federico Clapis' installation for migrants

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