The Mediterranean sea has become a symbol of hope and of tragedy for the thousands of people who attempt to leave Africa in search of a safer life in Europe each year. In March 2011, 72 migrants boarded an inflatable boat manned by Libyan soldiers, headed for the Italian island of Lampedusa. At the time, the sea was full of military ships and aircraft maintaining the Nato blockade of Libya – yet when the boat sent out distress calls, no one came to its aid. Only 11 survivors were on board when it washed up in Libya two weeks later.
Forensic Architecture, a research group based at London’s Goldsmiths university, dubbed the craft “the left-to-die Boat” in a report and a film, Liquid Traces, that exposes Nato’s complicity in the tragedy. By using military surveillance technologies against the grain, Forensic Architecture showed that these deaths occurred in the most highly surveyed waters in the word. The migrants’ dinghy was seen by an aeroplane, military helicopters, two fishing vessels and a large military vessel – seen, but not acknowledged. This year, Forensic Architecture received a Turner Prize nomination for their work on human rights abuses, including an interactive model of a notorious prison in Syria created through prisoner testimonies.