Voices through Water

The 3rd of October

Vito Fiorino shared with us the story of the tragedy that occurred on October 3rd, 2013, off the shores of Lampedusa. He was at sea with friends, waiting for dawn to go fishing, when:

“All those howls coming from the sea seemed to me like seagulls, but they were men.”

That night, Fiorino rescued 47 people in his little fisherboat. 368 others lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea. He is still in touch with some of the survivors, one of them even calls him “papà” (father).

Comitato 3 di ottobre

Intercultural tree

This installation emerged during a creative workshop at the reception centre in Lampedusa. The “Intercultural Tree” displays the most beautiful words that refugees and workers at the centre associated with life on Lampedusa.

Caterina Jazira Famularo presented this work to us at Il Giglio Marino. She works with women arriving on the island, using art to help them process their traumatic experiences. She also supports local children in expressing their dreams for the future through drawing. Caterina and her colleagues – women who also volunteer with the Red Cross – shared with us their powerful experiences of caring for others.

“Wanderer”
Martin’s poem

Martin Iš, a young participant in the project transformed his personal journey to Lampedusa and Zicksee into a powerful poem that captures the evolution from fear and isolation to connection and self-discovery.

The poem beautifully contrasts his initial anxieties about meeting strangers with the profound creative awakening and sense of belonging he found through shared experiences and artistic expression.

His reading of this deeply personal work before members of the European Parliament created a moving moment that demonstrated how individual stories can bridge cultural divides and speak to universal human experiences.

Performance in the European Parliament

Our performance was born from an urgency to creatively express our demands concerning the core issues of migration and climate crisis prior to the elections of the European Parliament in June 2024.

These are not abstract problems – they are immediate, tangible and happening now.
In the performance we dealt with topics of greenwashing and soil sealing, fostering architecture of green cities, demanding inclusive education for all, rethinking borders, and calling for dignified living conditions and safe migration routes for every human being.

We transformed these topics into poetic audio-scenes, choreographies and funny but clever media formats – creating a powerful connection with the audience.

Youth demands

The young people found clear political demands after a long phase of experiences, research, inputs from experts and discussion among them throughout the project’s different workshops. In the end, claims like “Living, not just surviving,” “Green-not concrete,” and “Inclusive education for all.” entered the stage.

These demands were directly voiced to Members of the European Parliament and their assistants. The response was immediate and genuine. One assistant called it “the most creative and powerful message” they had seen in their four years working in the European Parliament.

What followed was not just applause but emotional responses and speechless politicians. Afterwards, the young people engaged in a fruitful dialogue with their newly elected Members of the European Parliament and their assistants.

Moving Through Crises:
A Performance of Witness

A street performance in Vienna was created by participants who explored the refugee situation on Lampedusa Island and the impacts of the climate crisis at Austria’s dried-up Lake Zicksee.

Guided by theatre, film, and contemporary circus artists, they developed a powerful performance that synthesised their experiences and insights.

The participants translated complex social and environmental issues into compelling physical expressions that bridge art and activism.

Building a house

We are building a house on the shore of almost dried-up lake Zicksee. A place that seems to be left behind where you only can imagine how it once was by its remains.
The water slide leading into a patch of grass. However, some migrating birds are still stopping by.

Who else is migrating from their land that is getting dry?
We use rescue blankets to cover the house.

They shimmer in gold and silver, rustling in the wind.

Is this a house, is it a home?
Blankets lie on the ground.  

Steps unseen

We took many artistic steps in different directions to find our working rhythm as a group, our shared areas of interest, and our means of expression.

The short video you can see here is a work-in-progress choreography that was never shown publicly. It explores emotions and the theme of taking and finding one’s space.

Together

We arrived from five different countries with forty different pasts, not sure what lies ahead of us. We listened. We questioned. We clashed. We learned.
We hesitated.
We created.

Lampedusa’s waves carried voices of resilience. Zicksee’s cracked ground whispered of loss.
We held space. We found our voices in between and lifted the weight of these stories together.

Breathe

During the process, we found that self-care was important when dealing with distressing and challenging topics of climate crisis and migration.

The stories and images we encountered deeply affected our emotions. While it was important to acknowledge and validate these feelings, we could not allow ourselves to become paralysed.

Our goal was to take action. Methodologically, we worked with walking meditations, breath and body work, and addressed these topics in one-on-one conversations, supported by the Awareness Team and a psychologist.

Sliding into the climate crisis

During a walk around the nearly dried-up lake Zicksee, we met with a regional nature protection officer who spoke to us about the impacts of the climate crisis on this fragile ecosystem in Austria.

Where children once played on a water slide that led into a scenic lake, we were now confronted with an abandoned landscape – the slide now ending in grass, far from the water.