Moleskine Foundation and UNHCR at Barcolana 2019 to support seafaring culture and its binding laws of rescue and welcome
Moleskine Foundation is joining the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) aboard the Kleronia, “the human boat”, during Barcolana – an historic international regatta held each year in the Gulf of Trieste during the second week of October. Part of the “Rothko in Lampedusa” project, this partnership aims to encourage sailors to symbolically raise the flag of the UNHCR during the regatta. “We want as many people as possible to show support for seafaring culture and its binding laws of rescue and welcome”, says Fabio Rosciglione, Moleskine Foundation co-founder.
Barcolana is the largest regatta in the world in terms of the number of participants. This huge festival involves the sailing community, who get together every year not only to compete, but also to share their passion, journeys, dreams and, above all, to celebrate seafaring culture together.
In the words of Carlotta Sami, UNHCR spokesperson aboard the Kleronia, “The UNHCR, the United Nations’ Refugee Agency, is excited to participate as a partner in this initiative, convinced that the Mediterranean Sea must once again become a basin of coexistence and not a symbol of tragedies and closures”.
To support this initiative by Moleskine Foundation and the UNHCR, there will be also two special spokespeople from the sailing world: Ambrogio Beccaria and Matteo Miceli. Beccaria is a rising star of Italian ocean sailing, two-times champion of the Classemini, winner of the Classemini and of the Championnat de France de Course au Large en Solitaire. Miceli is a Roman sailor who holds the record for crossing the Atlantic in a catamaran, known also for his 2014 emission-free circumnavigation of the world in his Eco40 craft.
“You cannot face the sea without a proper training. It is absolutely unacceptable that people with no proper training carry human lives across the sea with inadequate tools; I feel very compassionate for all those who find themselves facing a sea crossing without being aware of its risks or with no other choices. It is everybody’s duty to rescue those in need and to offer a safe port, it is a duty towards them and towards us as well. Today’s seafaring culture is built on thousands of years of marine tradition during which humans have explored the world’s watery deserts. This history has been marked by moment of both peace and war, with the opening of shared ocean-going routes alongside merciless maritime battles. Ultimately however, our relationship with the sea has been shaped by the imbalance between the limitless power of this natural element and the very human fragility of those who try to match themselves against it, those who make a living from it, and those who find themselves in its midst by pure misfortune...” says Roberto Casati, philopher and professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences sociales, and Director of the Institut Nicod (CNRS) in Paris. He is currently writing “Ocean: A Philsopher's Journey”. He will also join the Kleronia’s journey at Barcolana.
During Barcolana, the Kleronia symbolically carries the message envisioned in Venice by the participants of September’s “Where is South?” AtWork workshop: “In this historic moment in which borders and walls are put up to divide us – increasing irrational fears and rewriting and/or deleting history – we hope that the experiences and stories we bring with us can enrich the lives of everyone, as well as as well as spark new discourses to fill in the spaces that separate us.”
This powerful message is endorsed by several exceptional sailors, friends and partners from different fields: Vittorio Malingri, Ambrogio Beccaria, Matteo Miceli, Giovanni Soldini, Hamed Ahmadi, Nation25, Associazione Italiana Giovani per l'UNESCO, DLV BBDO, Freel, Tree, Venice Art Factory, Atelier Trame Libere, Puntoseta, Progetto Agata Smeralda Onlus, FUM Studio, Talking Hands, Fashion Revolution Italia, Cantina Vintinove, Anna Barbara, SenseLab, Ashoka, Comitato Pace e Convivenza Danilo Dolci.
AtWork workshops use the creative process to stimulate thoughts and critical debate, as well as cognitive and emotive triggers that contribute to developing personal and collective identity. “Every human being has their own unique and inimitable creative force. Expressing this creative force contributes to the cultural and human development of the surrounding community. We believe in protecting the lives and creative potential of refugees for the enrichment and mutual exchange of culture, diversity and perspectives”, explains Simon Njami – who has been conducting AtWork workshops with Moleskine Foundation for years.
The creative outputs of the 5-day AtWork workshop are the notebooks personalized by each participant, which will be on display as part of the “Rothko in Lampedusa” initiative, organized by the UNHCR in Venice during the Biennale d’Arte 2019. The exhibition, which is open until 24 November in Palazzo Querini, has already welcomed over 10 thousand visitors. It focuses on the work of eight accomplished artists who have all personally experienced what it means to be a refugee, or who have made this theme a pivotal element in their artistic career. These artists are joined by five emerging creative talents, all of whom currently have refugee status. This exhibition aims to highlight both the condition and the talent of people forced to flee the place they call home.
These interconnected and impactful initiatives blend art with seafaring culture in support of inalienable human rights.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://moleskinefoundation.org/it/
https://www.unhcr.it
Freel - Agenzia di comunicazione - Via Paolo Lomazzo 19 - 20154 Milano
Cristina Scateni - [email protected] | +39 347.7973240
Arianna Gandolfi - [email protected] | +39 349.4574176
