“Pied à terre”: A comic book to tell the story of the rescue of migrants

Marie-Morgue Adatte from Neuchâtel is a committed designer. MarieMo, her stage name, cares about the good of the planet and those who live on it. Very active in the collective of female cartoonists “La Bûche”, in 2018 she had already embarked on a boat run by an environmental NGO for a month in the ice of Greenland. With “Icy Hands”, she recounted the fragility of the polar ecosystem.

In 2023, again, but this time on theOcean Vikingthe SOS Méditerranée rescue boat which comes to the aid of migrants leaving Africa. She drew from it “Pied à terre”, a story, as didactic as it is moving, of a mission at sea, the preparation it requires, the teams needed, the waiting, the dangers, then the satisfaction. That of having, this time, saved 82 people, including 58 minors, crammed onto a makeshift inflatable raft from the Libyan coast.

Travel diary

The plot is indeed that of a travel diary full of information. The black-white line is precise, also to tell what happens next, the obligation imposed by the Meloni government to bring the castaways back to northern Italy without attempting a second rescue, the story of the migrants who tell of hell Libyan jails, slave trafficking, systematic sexual abuse of women, attempts to find their loved ones, and a future that promises to be just as difficult.

For the graphic designer and illustrator, “once we boarded theOcean Vikingwe never completely leave it.” She does not fall into pathos despite her revolt. “My drawings allow me to explain the unbearable reality where sometimes words are no longer enough, but also to highlight life journeys, dreams, hopes, and above all emotions.” With this “Pied à terre”, she succeeded tremendously.

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