In the Spanish exclave of Melilla on the North African coast, people are trying to climb over the meter-high fences every day – in search of a new home, a secure perspective. One man was captured on camera by photographer Santi Palacios and made famous as the ‘’Melila Mauerspringer”. He seems to be contemplating his situation on the top of a surveillance camera post. He seems to be above it all, literally on top of a border. By transforming the man into a sculpture, artist Sánchez Castillo addresses the issue of borders, of belonging and being excluded.
The central figure in this exhibition is that of a man perched on a surveillance post, scanning a horizon of fences, barbed wire and collective dreams. Sánchez Castillo has formalized this image through a “Memorial”, made up of a sculpture that is multiplied in 1028 small figurines.
Picture by Santi Palacios