Barca Nostra: Christoph Buchel's Migrant Boat at Venice Biennale Faces Removal

Christoph Buchel's Barca Nostra, the wreck of a migrant boat that sank off Libya on April 18, 2015, killing over 900 people, was exhibited at the 2019 Venice Biennale. The Italian Navy recovered the vessel in 2016 and brought it to Augusta, Sicily. Buchel, with the Comitato 18 aprile and curator Maria Chiara Di Trapani, transported it to Venice for the Biennale, funded by private sources. The work was installed at the Arsenale as a memorial. After the Biennale, legal disputes arose over its removal. Buchel sued the transport company for damaging the support structure. The Biennale ordered the dock cleared, and Buchel sought insurance coverage. The court may involve the Municipality of Augusta. Artist Emmanuele Panzarini launched #SOSforart to raise funds for the wreck's return to Augusta, offering his own work Mare Nostrum. The documentary Barca Nostra – The Boat Beyond the Sea by Luca Lucchesi, produced by Wim Wenders' Road Movies, documents the process.