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EXTRALOCALS_Núria Güell

NÚRIA GÜELL, 2013 - Too Much Melanin

nuriaguell 01Too much melanin was undertaken on the occasion of the artist's participation in the biennial Gothenburg and Stockholm two months stay in space IASPIS residence.

 The project takes the reference that Maria is a political refugee from Kosovo who at that time had lived with her family in Sweden illegally for 9 years, 4 years of which in hiding, since the state has twice denied her asylum. The only change in the rules of the game is that Maria is always hidden, and the spectators, rather than the state, are always looking for her. At the end of her employment contract with the Biennale, Maria was able to obtain her work permit, and so no longer had to hide from the police. Maria was, in Kosovo , a police officer specialising in the disappearance and trafficking of women.


Sweden, like most European Union countries, is implementing policies of racist criminalisation to migrant groups. The REVA project, promoted by the Swedish government, is to pay bonuses to the police for every illegal immigrant caught, and is an example of the repressive xenophobic logic established within the institutional framework. I'm interested in reconsidering the ideological spin which is applied to pass from a humanitarian policy to a utilitarian one, which makes people illegal, and which legalises the free movement of goods.
Legal Framework :
On 18 June 2008 the European Parliament passed "The Return Directive" ( 2008/115/CE ) , which issued to member states an expulsion order to irregular immigrants, establishing a period of "voluntary return" of between 7 and 30 days. After this period, the authorities may place them in detention centres for Foreigners (CIE) for a period of 6 months before their expulsion, which may be extended to eighteen months in some cases. Deported immigrants, and those who do not abide by the order of "voluntary return" were prohibited from entering any EU country for 5 years. Member States have included this set of rules in their legislation, each national government deciding how to apply "The Directive".
Since 2009 the Swedish government has implemented the Rea project ( Rättssäkert och effektivt verkställighetsarbete, in english "Fair and Effective management Act "), which aims to "maintain order", increasing deportations of immigrants; funded by the European Return Fund, which financially rewards police officers for every successful deportation of an illegal immigrant.




[More information about the exhibition]

expo-extralocals 20 br

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