Page - 76 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 2/2016

76 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 2 2o16 Tony Kushner | Lampedusa and the Migrant Crisis up on its shores.71 Going even further, a self-conscious celebration of the bonds between migrants and locals is found in an Italian Amnesty International mural near the beach where many of the boats landed, Ai sorrisi di chi arriva e di chi accoglie (the smile of those arri- ving and those welcoming). It was coll- ectively created in 2013 and attempts to counter the tragic image of victimhood and negative attitudes to migrants widespread in the media.72 Lampedusa has also acted as a source of identity for those who have found asylum beyond its shores. It has led to groups including ‘Lampedusa in Berlin’ and ‘Lampedusa in Hamburg’ using the solidarity of this experience to campaign for better treatment of migrants at all stages of the journey.73 Whilst Terraferma, Lampedusa and Fire at Sea are (sympathetic) arti- stic portrayals by non-migrants, those who have passed through the island or supported them there have made a determined effort at self-representation, including in the form of heritage per- formance. An alternative museum and archive of Lampedusa, Porto M, has been created on the island itself, made up of fragments of ruined boats and lost belongings of the migrants. The work of an anarchist collective, ‘Askavusa’ (Barefoot), it highlights the everyday possessions of the migrants. To ensure there is no exploitation, no images of the migrants (who may, or may not still be alive) are included and the overall narrative is to present the issue as a global one rooted in inequality. I will return to Porto M in the conclusion 71 Crialise’s film won several prizes at the Venice Film Festival; Tony Kushner, site visit to Lampedusa cemetery, 5 August 2015. 72 It is reproduced on the cover of Alessandra Ballerini, La Vita Ti Sia Lieve: Storie di migranti e altri esclusi (Milan: Melampo Editore, 2014 [2013]). 73 Dines et al, ‘Thinking Lampedusa’, 436. Fig. 11: Mimmo Paladino’s ‘Porta di Lampedusa – Porta D’Europa’, Photo: Tony Kushner