For my recent participation Ping Pong Basel during ArtBasel have had the honour to collaborate with my friend Pablo Allison.
THE LIGHT OF THE BEAST
If Pablo Allison’s photography shows anything, it is the intimacy in which he became involved with the protagonists of his work, migrants with whom he shared a hostile and violent journey in the midst of this terrible crisis. Pablo changed them from being just another statistic, allowing them to be named and recognised through their identities and stories despite their clandestine movements.
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In a world whereby the pain of others has gradually turned into a profitable industry where migrants are the subject of exploitation, Pablo shows us conscious and honest photographs that try to capture human beauty despite adversity, photographs that not only speak of the migrant’s stories, but also show us genuine solidarity from behind the camera.
The Light of the Beast, as a reality and as a metaphor of what the journey epitomizes, casts a light on the courage and faith that people sustain, and reminds us that despite the fact that we live in such violent and volatile times, there are moments of epiphany that uplift us from darkness. It is precisely this work that honours through its aesthetics— light, life and strength— the most beautiful attributes of humanity. Likewise, it’s a tribute to those in transit who remind us of the fragility of existence, and for whom we fight for a just world. For such reasons we owe ourselves to them.
Claudia Stephany León Ang
Professor & Mexican Human Rights Activist
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curated by Sue Irion
