Immigration is a widespread social phenomenon of increasing importance in all its aspects. Over the last thirty years, most western nations have had to cope with this inevitable process. The main issues are, of course, those regarding the housing for all these people who dream of a better life, far from their native land.

A serious answer to this problem has unfortunately not been given yet, but it’s clear that we are trying to balance all these procedures (mostly economic ones), which have been carried out in the last few years, but haven’t managed to definitely put an end to this problem.

Our work wants to represent the hope and the expectations carried by every single one of these people during the journey of their life. On the front of the float, there is a black guy wearing a marine hat. Like a true captain, he wants to take responsibility for his actions, and sometimes even other people’s, in absolutely inhuman circumstances, escaping from war, hunger and poverty, embarking on a journey through the Mediterranean. Their boats, made out of paper, are a symbol of human life, trying to stay afloat at any cost and navigating towards safe harbours, in order to reach that continent called „Europe“, represented by a couple of mermaids, characters from Greco-Roman mythology, often associated with their angelic song, which at racts many sailors and then turns out to be nothing but an illusion. Europe fascinates all these people with its charm, often exploiting their own dreams: they want to be footballers, music stars or they might just want a job to live a decent life. Most of the time, however, this journey doesn’t end well for them, and all these dreamers find death while crossing the sea or even before, for example in some jails in Lybia, literally a few steps away from reaching their goals.

Through this float, the Ardizzone Association wants to convey a message of optimism and non-resignation, by using the imagine of „Thor“, God of Thunder and Storm. Thor, nordic deity, is the embodiment of Lightining, Thunder and Storm, but also he who is in charge of protecting humanity, which he does through his weapon, a hammer, trying to eliminate the big issue that affects all immigrants, represented by a sea dragon.

In the end, we can see the anchor of hope, a metaphor for a docking in a safe harbour and the beginning of a new life, hopefully better then the previous one.