“PORTA DI LAMPEDUSA – PORTA D'EUROPA”: A MEMORIAL TO MIGRANTS WHO HAVE DIED AT SEA

Amani, Arnoldo Mosca Mondadori, Alternativa Giovani and the Koinonia Community are happy to join forces to promote the “ Porta di Lampedusa - Porta d'Europa” memorial project, which is the first of its kind in Europe dedicated to migrants who died or went missing at sea while attempting to reach the continent.

The acclaimed Italian artist Mimmo Paladino built a large door made of baked black refractory clay, which stands five meters high and three metres wide as a reminder of the last twenty years during which thousands of migrants died at sea under inhumane circumstances as they tried to reach Europe - a massacre without witnesses, and very often, without burial or mercy.

The memorial is a symbol that will help future generations that will visit Lampedusa to remember these migrants. It is a symbol that will encourage people to enter into reflection.

On June 28th 2008 the memorial will be unveiled. Mimmo Paladino, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Pietro Coletta, Claudio Baglioni, Lucio Dalla, Luca Carboni, Eleonora Giorgi, Marco Alemanno and Ginestra Paladino will participate in the ceremony.

On the same day, thanks to the support of the Pro Loco Association of Lampedusa, Amani, and Holding Turismo, the restored Obelisk Cassodoro of Arnaldo Pomodoro will be given back to the city and to the main square of Lampedusa.

Special thanks go to the Comune di Lampedusa, which approved this project unanimously, and to all the citizens of the island who demonstrated a great spirit of understanding and responsibility.

The project “Porta di Lampedusa -Porta d'Europa” has been carried out under the patronage of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – Italian Office, the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Regione Sicilia, and the Regione Puglia, and in cooperation with Collegio di Milano, Fondazione O' Scià, Ceramica Gatti, Michelangelo Lombardi Costruzioni Srl and Holding Turismo.