Claire Fontaine's Neon Installation on Democracy and Migration Opens at University of Palermo

On March 26, 2025, the artist duo Claire Fontaine inaugurated a neon installation titled after Primo Levi's 'I sommersi e i salvati' at the University of Palermo's Faculty of Law. The work, installed in a niche atop the gray marble staircase, features blue and red neon lines framing Levi's title, evoking train tracks to Auschwitz and Mediterranean waves. It launches 'Crossing Borders. Popoli in movimento,' a three-year project curated by Alessandra Borghese and promoted by UniPa, placing contemporary artworks across the university alongside lectures on migration, democracy, and coexistence. Six artists are selected: Yuri Ancarani (May 13), Paolo Pellegrin (June 10), Francesco Vezzoli (late September), Loredana Longo, and Adrian Ghenie. Borghese, founder of Fondazione Ghenie Chapels, conceived the project two years ago to address migration, partnering with UniPa's Migrare Center and legal clinic. Professor Paolo Inglese stated the university's commitment to memory and democracy, noting the work's alignment with UniPa's humanitarian corridors and migrant rights programs. The installation references Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' used as an epigraph in Levi's book, connecting Holocaust survivors to contemporary migrants crossing the Mediterranean.