COUNTLESS

The COUNTLESS project includes a series of 29 graphite rubbings taken from the graves of migrants who died at sea whilst trying to reach Europe. It is 29 years since the first recorded shipwreck of a migrant boat in Europe. The majority of drowned migrant's bodies remain unidentified and so their graves are marked with numbers rather than names. The grave rubbings were made in three cemeteries in Sicily.
Presented alongside the rubbings of unnamed migrant's graves, are names lifted from shipwrecked migrant boats, also found in Sicily. The names have been lifted from the boats using a unique process to lift pigment and texture from surfaces. Migrant's boats are usually destroyed by the Italian authorities after being found.
The project also includes photographic and video footage from the cemeteries and of the work in progress.
The COUNTLESS project brings the reality of migrant deaths at sea closer to the viewer. The figures for migrant deaths at sea this year are higher than any previous year on record. The true number of deaths will never be known as the majority of the bodies of migrant's who die at sea are never found. Countless more bodies remain at the bottom of the sea.