Exhibition “Breaking Ships, Breaking Lives”

Through photographs, testimonies and audiovisual material, the exhibition reveals the process of “beaching”, a common practice on the coasts of South-East Asia, where steel giants are dismantled directly on the sand. The exhibition gives a face to those who work on these beaches turned into ship graveyards, people who risk their lives every day among tonnes of iron and fuel, with scarcely any protection or labour rights.

The exhibition also raises a necessary reflection: the environmental and human impact of a global industry that hides behind the shine of maritime trade. While laws in Europe make the recycling process more expensive, elsewhere the low cost is paid for with human lives.