Schellekens & Pelemans Inflatable Refugee will serve to highlight the undeniable and inescapable presence of the migration crisis currently gripping the world.

Ai Weiwei’s recent declaration that he intends to make a film based on the migration crisis, (using reams of footage recorded while following the passage of refugees from Jordanian camps to ones located in Europe), reinforces the art world’s ambition to make a demonstrable impact on the discourse surrounding the modern day Middle Eastern diaspora.

In light of this, a 20 foot tall sculpture named “Inflatable Refugee”, made by Belgian visual artist collective Schellekens and Peterman’s, will sail around the world as part of a nomadic art project intended to, “invite the audience to reflect on geopolitical evolutions, migration and identity.”

The massive adult male, clad in a life jacket and blue jeans hugging his knees in the foetal position, is constructed from the same material used to make the inflatable boats commonly used by human traffickers to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

Having been launched in Venice, the Inflatable Refugee has now visited Antwerp and Uppsala. From there, the giant structure will sail the Danish coast before visiting Rotterdam and Melbourne.

Further responses to the crisis have come in the form of Eat Offbeat, a New York based catering and service that offers refugees both gainful employment and a greater feeling of inclusion, and a coat designed by RCA students that doubles as a sleeping bag and tent.