By using common life-jackets, the by-product of thousands of desperate attempts to reach Europe through the Mediterranean Sea, Greek teenager Achilleas Souras is creating igloos as a refuge for displaced people seeking safety away from their countries.
As 2016 draws to a close, it is likely that it'll become the deadliest year ever for refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
Back in October the UNHCR reported that "3,740 lives had been lost so far in 2016, just short of the 3,771 reported for the whole of 2015."
Now, budding artist Souras, aged just 16, has created 'SOS' or 'Save Our Souls', an installation that he says is "a response to the current refugee crisis".
See photos from the installation, below:
More than 450,000 life-jackets are said to have accumulated on the island of Lesbos alone, and Achilleas, who is of Greek origins, has decided to work with these discarded objects which offered “protection in water”, to transform them in a "shelter on land," ultimately an object of hope.
Souras explains: "'Save Our Souls’' proposes a re-appropriation of these jackets to provide low cost temporary shelters to further help refugees."
"My project was made to raise awareness of the refugee crisis," Souras tells SBS. "I have made igloos out of life-jackets, to represent protection and housing."
Achilleas' use of life-jackets is reminiscent of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's use of 14,000 life-jackets fixed to the columns of the Konzerthaus Berlin for an installation which coincided with the opening of the Berlin International Film Festival.
"I have been inspired by artist Ai Weiwei’s work," he said.
Ai Wei Wei's life jacket installation in Germany earlier this year. Source: Getty Images
"I started the project when the installation hadn’t been started yet but I definitely draw inspiration from his work, I’m a great admirer of his."
Unlike Weiwei's piece however, Souras's installation is not just a piece of art: it also has a practical application.
"It can been used in the real world or simply used as an art installation," he says.
Listen to the full interview with Achilleas (in English) by Francesca Rizzoli on SBS Italian
The young artist at work Source: Luis Calau
The installation by Achilleas Souras was shown at the Maritime Museum of Barcelona earlier this year, and more recently in Bologna, Italy and Cape Town, South Africa, for a simultaneous exhibition which marked Human Rights Day on December 10.
On the migrant crisis, Souras says, "Everybody is concerned about it, because it’s always in the news, but not many people know exactly what’s going on."
"As an artistic statement you can only inform people, hoping they take action."
