“Everyone has the right to move freely and to choose his or her residence within a state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.” (Articles 13.1 and 13.2, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948)

“Political object, the Boat wreck of “Routes and Routings”, summons the dream and the tragedy of the migratory journeys. A boat made of scraps, assembly of metal rods, pieces of wood, crushed fabrics, fragments of clothing hanging from the wreckage... In this fictional space, the shifting shadow of the spectators mingles with that of the boat, evoking the castaways, making it a place of memory of lives and dreams lost. (…) Michelle Héon’s boats have long had to do with what must be called a memento mori, with the ruin, the wreckage and the passing of time. Here, it is more a question of evoking the difficult conditions of human existence, without renouncing its renewal.”  

© Sabine Barbé 2010, Paris, France.