“We replace one national hero with another. » A giant fresco painted by street artist Mahn Kloix in homage to the rescuers of the SOS Méditerranée ambulance ship has been displayed since Friday in Marseille, on the emblematic “Zidane wall” overlooking the sea.
On the 100 m2 facade along the cornice, a rescuer now scans the sea using binoculars, thus succeeding “Zizou”, the legend of French football, whose name remains attached to this wall for the people of Marseillais. , even if its poster, put up in 1998 by a sports equipment manufacturer, has disappeared for 20 years.
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The fresco was created by Mahn Kloix, a committed Marseille artist who has signed numerous frescoes to illustrate the courage of “oppressed minorities and actors of change”.
“Keep your eyes out to sea”
“This woman is an employee of SOS Méditerranée taken from a photo from their archives,” the artist explained to AFP. “It really looks like it is looking out to sea, so there is a very strong meaning to this location, and Marseille is a welcoming land that has always been focused on the Mediterranean,” he added. .
“Mahn’s fresco evokes the very basis of our mission. Our rescuers spend much more time scanning the horizon for boats in distress than saving time,” added Sophie Beau, general director of SOS Méditerranée.
She also sees a broader symbol: “This image also represents the need for civil society to keep its eyes out to sea, to keep watch at sea because states are failing”
41,000 people saved since 2016
Katia Rode, a 60-year-old passerby, fell under the spell of this black and white work: “I think the drawing is very beautiful! Let’s remember to see a little further than the end of our noses. That’s not bad! “, she reacted to AFP.
Since its first mission at sea in 2016, SOS Méditerranée explains that it has rescued nearly 41,000 men, women and children, mainly in the central Mediterranean, the most dangerous migratory route in the world.
In 2023, 3,155 migrants died or went missing after trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since January, 1,643 migrants have died or gone missing there, according to the same source.
