Departures
مغادرون
Exhibition by MOSA ONE
Curated by spazioSERRA
Reflection by Zakaria Aït aka Marocchino
On display from 21/11/2024 to 20/12/2024
Opening Thursday 21/11/2024 at 19:00
Lancetti railway station, Milan
Departures / مغادرون is Mosa One's site-specific exhibition, part of suMISURA, an exhibition season where selected artists explore spazioSERRA, a space that acts as both content and container. Here, the same rules that constitute it are daily emphasized, exploited, distorted, reshaped, and sometimes annulled. The exhibition will be on display from Thursday, November 21, to Friday, December 20, at Milano Lancetti train station.
Through his art, Mosa One aims to create cultural connections and break down barriers, whether they are physical borders or mental limits arising from social fears and regulations. With performances, painting, and murals, he merges elements of his heritage, such as Arabic calligraphy, with references to Western pop culture. Currently, performance is his ideal medium, allowing him to freely construct a parallel world where he conveys profound messages with a playful and visually impactful dimension.
Departures / مغادرون is a bold work that deeply questions our perceptions of boundaries, privilege, and human experience. Through an immersive project, viewers are invited to reflect on the absurdity of geographical and political borders. The exhibition opens with a performance where the audience confronts the artist, confined in a transparent box symbolizing the restrictions—often invisible—faced by those who need visas to cross borders. In this context, Mosa becomes a living metaphor for the limitations imposed not only on freedom of movement but also on the right to escape difficult situations in search of a better future. The box is surrounded by fabrics adorned with the stories of those forced to remain in their home countries, not just due to conflicts but also because of the challenges in obtaining visas and permits. These barriers limit opportunities and independence, highlighting the daily struggles of those who, despite wanting to build a future elsewhere, face bureaucratic and political obstacles. The way to overcome borders and bans is to board Unprivileged Airways, an airline that breaks the rules, dismantles norms, and allows anyone who wishes to travel.
The performance and exhibition invite us to pause, even if just for a few minutes, to reflect on our own privilege and biases. They shed light on the profound inequalities that exist in the freedom to travel and explore the world. Departures / مغادرون is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit and a call to create a more inclusive and compassionate world.
I wonder if a visa is needed to explore the galaxy.
Why are we the only beings that need permission to travel?
Marocchino
MOSA ONE - Mosa Keshk (Rome, Italy, 1997) is a multidisciplinary artist born in Rome to Egyptian parents. His artistic practice explores identity and the experience of having roots in two countries and different cultures, touching on themes such as spirituality and social challenges encountered from childhood. Growing up on the outskirts of Rome, he began his journey with graffiti at age 13, gradually emerging in the art scene, with an exhibition at the MACRO Museum in Rome at 19. He has collaborated with institutions and brands such as UNICEF, Netflix, and Nike.
Marocchino - Zakaria Aït (Morocco, 1999), of Amazigh origin, he lives and works in Brussels. He writes texts aimed at young people in marginalized areas, blending high cultural references (such as iconic films like La Haine by Kassovitz) with popular ones. Through this, he highlights how far we still have to go toward true social and cultural equity, raising awareness and inviting reflection on the challenges needed to build a more inclusive society. His work is a social critique that is both engaged and dialogical with the culture of the imperfect country he arrived in at age 14 from Morocco, where he has since grown up, creating a meeting between Eastern and Western cultures, between the periphery and institutions.
Special thanks to:
Musical Performance: Ilaria Makhoul, Seif Elrdaf
Photography Exhibition: Mahdi Baraghithi, Ziad Rushdy, Omar Shafai