European Union Mayotte

The film installation European Union Mayotte reflects upon migration, the dream of another life and the outermost border of the EU. Located in the Indian Ocean north of Madagascar, Mayotte is one of the four Comoros Islands, a former French Colony. The Union of the Comoros is a sovereign island nation which gained independence in 1975. Mayotte, however, chose to reaffirm its ties with France through a series of referendums. In 2011, Mayotte became a French overseas department, and in 2014 the EU acknowledged Mayotte as a part of the union, making it EU’s outermost region. 

The installation consists of two projections: the first, smaller projection depicts a scene of a single boat in the ocean, sometimes carrying people; the second, larger projection follows the production of a small fiberglass fishing boat on Anjouan, an island situated only 70 kilometres away from Mayotte. In these small boats, people from Anjouan and the surrounding islands of the Comoros take the risk of a dangerous and illegal journey in the hope of reaching Mayotte and thereby the EU. This treacherous journey has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.