Roboteca
Roboteca I
Roboteca “Il Mare“ (The sea), Sicily – February 2017
The Roboteca project started on 2017 in the city of Agrigento in Sicily, where Jungleye brought together two polarised groups of teenagers, aged fifteen to seventeen. Some are Sicilian students in school. Others are migrants – trapped in the city’s Retention Center, they reached the coasts of Sicily following a dangerous and perilous journey crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.
For three weeks they worked on the topic of “Photofit”. This facial composite is typically used as an investigation tool by the law enforcement. Within the framework of the workshop, the Photofit technique was subverted in order to give a new identity to those who lost it while fleeing their country. Photography was then used as a tool for intercultural conflict resolution by opening up a dialogue about image and identity. This particular technique of portraiture was also a way to confront the obstacle regarding privacy rights for the unaccompanied youths.
The young, shared their stories by creating a whole new face scarred by photocollage. Using the eye of a Sicilian student, the nose of a Libyan migrant, and the mouth of their Senegalese friend, a new character appeared.
Similarly to the game Exquisite Corpse, a magic story is collaboratively written, mixing their emotions with their memories and imagination. Ultimately conceiving a new identity.
Roboteca II
Roboteca “New ID“, Frankfurt – February 2018
In the city of Frankfurt, Germany, the Jungleye association brought together two groups of polarized teenagers, aged fourteen to seventeen. Some are German school students. Others are migrants – asylum seekers who have been living in Germany for two years. They are currently involved in the slow process of integration into the local community. Through the workshop, these youth discovered each others and exchange about their differences and their similarities; of their traditions and their memories.
Roboteca III
Roboteca “#respect“, Paris Ivry-sur-Seine – July 2018
In Paris, the Jungleye association organized a Roboteca workshop in the Emergency Housing Center (UHC) in Ivry-sur-Seine, where EMMAÜS Solidarité hosts 430 people, families, single women and children. Fifteen women aged 26 to 60 were invited to speak. From Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Syria, Iran, Bangladesh, Tibet, Ivory Coast, Chad, or Romania, all are in asylum procedure in Paris. Working from their portraits and sharing their stories, they created new faces and found the words to honor all women victims of crimes and sexual assault.
UPCOMING
On April 2019, Jungleye Association plan on a new Roboteca Workshop, in Beirut, in view to create a common space of artistic expression for Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian Youth.