Sirelli, a pop boat in Crotone to restore hope to migrants who face the sea

Attract, through beauty, attention to the phenomenon of migrants is the intent of Massimo Sirelliwhich makes us wonder why a human being is forced to challenge death at sea on board old boats. The artist invited to Crotone by ioresto association he created a work with a 16 meter fishing vesselone of the many sea boats used by migrants, at the risk of their lives, to land in Calabria, which was destined for demolition.

The boat is there Saint Nikolaus with which in March 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, they landed in Crotone 12 migrants belonging to different nationalities. The boat-monument Saint Nikolaus – Life Points it was positioned inside the Parco dei Giardini del Pythagoras Museum.

It’s a Pop boatbecause the artist did not want to celebrate death, but the hope and the desire for a future that moves these people and pushes them to face constant dangers to build a better life than the one they left behind. But the artist also wants to bear witness to the Crotone’s deep connection with the sea and its ability to hospitalityhis sense of inclusion And integration. Massimo Sirelli’s art is characterized, in fact, by the use of bright colours through which it transforms the used and abandoned objects in works of art. In this exclusive interview the artist tells us how he conceived and created this work.

How did the San Nikolaus project come about?

I was invited by the ioresto Association of Crotone, we were still caged by the pandemic, which asked me to think of a work for the city. We met with the guys from the association in the port area where there was a small staircase and they hoped that I would fall in love with the place and thus a work on the seafront would be born.

And instead…

While we were talking I was looking at the port with all these wrecks of the sea, which were not necessarily migrants’ wrecks, but also disused fishermen’s boats. Then I had the intuition to transform, to give new life to a boat used by migrants. I pointed to a fishing boat at random, and the story goes that the fishing boat I was pointing to was a fishing boat that had traveled with migrants on board, and had arrived in Crotone in 2020. It was then difficult to obtain it, because naturally it was considered a crime for illegal immigration. But in the end after various vicissitudes we managed to get a boat. And they had given us the very boat I had indicated, so, was it fate or magic?

You then discovered that this boat, which had traveled in the Mediterranean, had arrived in the center of Crotone with twelve migrants on board.

Yes, this is very singular, because it did not arrive on the coast, but right in the center, twelve migrants right on the doorstep, on the doorstep.

Did things get a little complicated when you had to move the wreck?

It was a daring story, because in any case we are talking about a fourteen meter fishing vessel, so you can only imagine what it means to move such a large vessel.

When we then placed it in Pitagora park the ground also gave way. We worked throughout 2021 on the reclamation, we cleaned it, enamelled it and then I built it.

Your project, however, does not refer to the sadness of deaths at sea, but to an idea of ​​hope for the future.

Yes, this is an idea that was born immediately, from the first moment, that is, when I saw the boat I never thought of a celebration of the deaths, I didn’t want it to become a memorial, but I wanted it to become a hymn to life. These people are not just migrants, but human beings, who set out to improve their lives, therefore, they are chasing a dream, not chasing death.

Is your intent, therefore, to celebrate the journey towards a new life, where you can realize your dreams?

In fact, I called it la dream boat and then the original name of the fishing boat was San Nikolaus who is the saint of gifts, and what better gift is that of seeing one’s wishes come true? Here then is the idea of ​​joyfulness and the polka dots that decorate the entire hull. Each point of color is a point of life, therefore, thousands of lives and thousands of dreams. And then twelve, only twelve colours, because there were twelve migrants on board.