Gianluca Costantini Turns Ocean Viking into a Migrant Art Gallery

Comic artist and activist Gianluca Costantini has transformed the Ocean Viking, a humanitarian rescue ship operated by SOS Méditerranée, into a floating art gallery. The exhibition, titled La vita possibile (The Possible Life), features 60 works inspired by the NGO's rescue missions in the central Mediterranean. It was installed in December 2022 while the ship docked in Ravenna, Italy, and will remain on board until destroyed by weather or crew. The show is not open to the public but is accessible virtually via social media. The title references the rescue of baby Abdou, found on a rubber dinghy during the night of December 26–27, 2022. Works are placed on deck, in the clinic, in the shelter for women and children, and in crew quarters. A long comic from Costantini's book Libia, written by Francesca Mannocchi, tells the story of Wared, an Eritrean girl who died at sea; it is placed in areas inaccessible to survivors to avoid triggering trauma. SOS Méditerranée president Alessandro Porro requested a drawing of Alan Kurdi, the drowned Syrian boy, on his cabin door. The ship rescued 2,505 people in 45 operations in 2022 alone. Costantini collaborated with SOS Méditerranée's communication team to realize the project.