The miniature floats

NICOLO' VECCHIO   (Cat. B)

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LITIGIO AL CONFINE

The miniature float "Dispute at the Border" aims to highlight a socio-political condition that is widely present at a global level: territorial disputes, and all the resulting situations that arise from them, such as the discrediting propaganda policies against neighboring states, which lead to various conflicts not only political but also social. Often, the result of these disputes turns into hostility between the two populations, or in extreme situations, it escalates into military conflict, for which, unfortunately, we have various testimonies in current times.
Countries with well-known territorial disputes that have not led to military conflicts are many, with the most famous being those depicted on the float: the conflict between the two Koreas and the one involving the USA and Mexico. At the front of the float, we see a Mexican in traditional Mariachi band clothing, typical of Mexican culture but often used as a racist stereotype to label and mock a Mexican person. The character, attempting to escape American territory, climbs over the wall at the border between the two states, represented behind him on the float, and in order to succeed in his escape, he decides to use a bull, unaware that it is a mechanical bull—an ironic invention of American origin.
On the side of the float, next to the wall, there are signs indicating the prohibition of further movement, and there are tickets tied to balloons filled with trash, referencing the event that occurred at the border between the two Koreas, which the two countries created as a symbol of their mutual animosity. At the back of the float, the figure of former American President Donald Trump rises, known for his propaganda against Mexico and its people, and for being responsible for the construction of the wall at the border. But by turning the head, we can notice behind Trump's face, the face of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, known for his various threats of war and the large political divide between the two Koreas. Behind the two figures are the flags of the countries involved in territorial disputes.
The float aims to convey a message that urges the governments of these states to tear down these social divides and guarantee peace to citizens, a peace that everyone has the right to live.