Simohammed Fettaka's 'Camouflages' at Villa Datris: Mediterranean as Battlefield

Moroccan visual artist Simohammed Fettaka presents 'Camouflages' at Fondation Villa Datris in Vaucluse, France. The work uses hundreds of blue plastic soldiers to represent the Mediterranean as a battlefield for harragas—illegal migrants from North Africa. First created in 2018 and previously shown in Morocco, this is its European debut. Fettaka, who grew up in Tangier, draws on personal experience of friends and family attempting the crossing. He views harragas as heroes exercising a fundamental right to survival. The artist works with multiple materials including straw and sheepskin, but chose cheap plastic soldiers to reference disposable lives. He also addresses orientalism and the exoticized gaze in his broader practice.