The List / UNITED
The List traces information related to the deaths of over 34,000 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants who have lost their lives within, or on the borders of Europe since 1993. It is compiled and updated every year by the Amsterdam based organization UNITED for Intercultural Action. Since 2006, in collaboration with curators, art workers, and institutions, Banu Cennetoğlu has facilitated up-to-date and translated versions of The List in several countries using public display structures such as ad-boards and newspaper supplements.
The List / UNITED
There are two aspects to it, Banu Cennetoğlu thinks – the first is deep and instinctive and is entwined with its emotional force as a lament, an act of mourning. “The other side is very pragmatic. It’s a database, compiled by an NGO since 1993 and it’s done only by volunteer work – but it needs to be visible. Governments don’t keep these records for the public; they don’t want the public to see these records because it exposes their policies. So you have NGOs trying to put the data together, and that data is incomplete and fragile, but there again someone has to do it. And I want to contribute to that with what I have and what I do – but not by aestheticizing it. You cannot represent this kind of darkness through art.” [via The Guardian]
“It needs to be visible… but not by aestheticizing it. You cannot represent this kind of darkness through art.”
The most recent version of The List has been displayed in cities including Berlin, Istanbul, Basel and Athens and last month on a 280 meter long installation along Great George Street in Liverpool as part of the city’s Biennial art festival. But on display in Liverpool, it was vandalized and torn down twice, first in July, then again just few weeks ago.
We present here The List in its entirety, also available for download > (updated June 7, 2023)
