An Exploration on Border Mystification
2022
Data Visualization, Installation
Special thanks to Pau García, María Fabuel, & Domestic Data Streamers and ELisava’s Comms team.
While it may seem, especially in the Western world, that we live in a globalized and free society, freedom and mobility often become highly individualized experiences, deeply influenced by the nationality one holds.
This project approaches nationality as a concept imposed by globalized systems, aiming to shed light on existing global inequalities. It seeks to make visible the often-invisible ways in which the world processes and treats people differently—sometimes fundamentally—based on their nationality.
During the 20th century alone, the population in the world has grown from 1.65 billion to 6 billion. In 1970, there were roughly half as many people in the world as there are now. Each human is important and should be equal. Still, we tend to define ourselves, our values and our views by a short sighted perspective, narrowed to our own national context. The world’s flag is a slap in the face of reality. The world itself is this flag, Complex and not western at all.
The passport index shows how powerful your passport can be depending on where you’re from. The more visa free countries you can enter, the more powerful your passport is. The passport has become a power representation. 8.8 cm x 12.5 cm of universal implications.
Passport fees should be related to the average income of its citizens, and usually passport offices charge between 2% and 4% for a passport compared to the average income. But there’s cases where the price can be as high as 12%. Passports are a big business. The global e–passport market is valued at 24 billion dollars. People need passports, but at what cost?
Programs designed to attract foreign capital and business people by providing the right of residence and citizenship in return. In Portugal, around €2.7 billion has been invested in the country through the golden visa scheme, €2.4 billion of this through the purchase of real estate. In Marvila (Lisbon), more than 600 residents had to move elsewhere after home prices rose 88% in two years.
Where do migrants go, and why? In 2015, more than a million people fled to Europe, making it a record year for migration. But a lot has changed since then. Today, fewer and fewer people are attempting to get to Europe by irregular means. The main cause of forced migration remains war and violence, as well as rights violations. In at least ten countries worldwide, homosexuality and transsexuality are punishable with the death penalty.
Airports customs and security control can be quite different and intense depending on your passport’s origin, from divisions, to double and triple checks, to interviews and rejections.