Violins carved from migrant boats - 28th February 2024

Thousands of migrants have perished in flimsy wooden boats, attempting to reach Europe's shores. Currently, some of the vessels are being repurposed into stringed instruments by inmates of Milan's Opera prison, in a project entitled 'Metamorphosis'.

Under luthier Enrico Allorto's guidance, the prisoners hone their skills.

Enrico Allorto: "However, when they arrive here they don't, they don't know anything about musical instruments. That's why I've taught them everything here. And this is another reason to be proud, to see that as well as getting unsuitable wood to work, people, without training, can also end up becoming artists, let's say."

Having been seized by authorities, the craft often hold belongings of the individuals who braved turbulent waters in the quest for a better life. The items - like tinned fish or a child's shoe - bear witness to the 27,870 fatalities caused on the perilous crossing from Africa, according to UN data.

The task gives Opera inmate Andrea cause for reflection, with the realisation that his own challenges seem relatively surmountable.

Andrea: "I keep in mind that we receive the boats with everything inside except the people. And when these pieces of reality arrive, which are so important and at times overwhelming, it's normal to reflect on them. And many times you realise that your problems, your miseries, can be much more solvable in relation to how difficult others' are."

The House of the Spirit and of the Arts Foundation conceived the stringed instrument project over a decade ago. Combining the assortment of violins, violas and cellos refashioned from the migrants' battered boats, it generated the Orchestra of the Sea, which just debuted at Milan's prestigious La Scala.

Carving the musical instruments for the ensemble has, for detainee Claudio, prolonged the vessels' voyage, as well as the prisoners' personal journeys.

Claudio: "The boats will play, then, at the Scala, they will become musical instruments and rosaries. They'll enter people's homes to bear witness, then, to the migrant problem. While we, however, are reborn because we learn a trade, which is important in prison."

Attending the premiere, together with a fellow inmate, was Claudio. The presence of the instruments' painted boat-bodies is testament to the metamorphosis undergone by both the vessels and the prisoners themselves, into artisans. They're a poignant acknowledgement of past tragedies, but also of future aspirations.