Alice Luneau

Migrants on a Truck in the Saharan desert

These images come from mainly European newspaper articles about migrations in the Saharan desert, mostly between Niger and Libya. They accompany various reports of dramatic events happening in the desert. They circulate, are reproduced; the same image goes with different articles. They are illustrative images; this is what migration looks like.

These photographs present a precise angle of a reality that actually took place weeks, months or years ago. They hold a part of the truth: this character had this exact same posture, this piece of fabric this exact same fold, the dust this exact same pattern on the wheel. And as they are so specific, what these photographs represent disappeared right after they were taken. The image is separated from its living and moving subject. It becomes a representation, that is, an independent frozen object that travels through time and space. It shows what doesn't exist anymore; as a trace, it reveals the absence. These photographs are thus inaccessible and resist our understanding. They show surfaces and textures.

And human bodies take over the individuals with their agency, their will, their personality, their family, their social bonds.

These images are dissociated from the hopes, the pain, and the institutions leading to the situation they represent. They show the visible and the spectacular. They are illustrative images; this is what migration looks like.

And they remain in our memories.

In the Saharan desert are other young men far from home. The song "Loin de chez toi" was composed in 2015 by two French soldiers in the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment. They were based in Gao, in Mali, a key migration node for people coming from further South countries. The song was dedicated to other soldiers and their families back in France. It was filmed in a military truck, posted on Facebook. The video made a buzz, was shared and posted on YouTube and other platforms by web surfers. In the comments section, viewers encourage the soldiers, share their emotion and their experience as army members or as family missing their loved ones.

Music by Julien Joul.

Installation with video and sound, 2021