QUI A LE DROIT DE VOYAGER?

20/06 - 10h00 (mural painting)

Last april, Congolese filmmaker Paul Shemisi intended to come to Belgium from DR Congo to present his new film. When he requested an appointment to start up the procedure, he was told there weren’t any open slots for the next 7 (!) months, which made it impossible for him to attend the festival. Sadly, the failed attempt didn’t come as a surprise. Countless artists are hindered in their ways because they don’t hold a privileged passport. Congolese artists who want to travel to Europe need an artist card, an updated passport, an official invitation, a declaration of accountability, a bankaccount…but even with those (often expensive) documents in hand, obtaining a visa seems to remain an unpredictable game of chance and personal connections.

For Qui a le Droit de Voyager? Paul collaborates remotely with local painter and illustrator Juliane Noll, to make a mural that addresses passport and visa discrimination. Paul proposes a concept, which Juliane reworks, and translates into a design and a mural painting.

w/ Paul Shemisi & Juliane Noll