Massimo Sansavini transforms migrant boat wrecks into colorful sculptures for Touroperator exhibition

Italian artist Massimo Sansavini (born 1961 in Forlì) creates sculptures from migrant boat wrecks recovered from Lampedusa's 'boat cemetery' at the former US Loran base. His project began after the October 2013 shipwreck that killed over 360 people, which later became Italy's National Day of Remembrance for immigration victims. In 2015, Sansavini obtained authorization from the Tribunal of Agrigento to access the site, becoming the only artist to do so. He collected wood from abandoned hulls and personal belongings of deceased migrants, transforming them into colorful, naive-looking sculptures depicting marine scenes, hearts, stars, and houses, each marked with a shipwreck date. The works contrast joyful aesthetics with tragic narratives. Since 2016, the traveling exhibition titled Touroperator—a pun on tour operators and human traffickers—has visited 11 venues across Italy and Europe, including the European Parliament in Brussels, Musei San Domenico in Forlì, Museo del Mare in Palermo, Stazione Marittima Zaha Hadid in Salerno, and the municipality of Imola. The exhibition received Amnesty International's endorsement starting from its Palermo showing in October 2017. The next stop is planned at the State Museums of San Marino. Sansavini aims to raise awareness about migration and promote tolerance through contemporary art.