Foreigners Everywhere (If you were to live here...)

In this ongoing series the statement ‘foreigners everywhere’ is translated onto a public site in sign writers’ neon. For Auckland Claire Fontaine used a selection of languages to continue their address of the undercurrents of racism in society. The title itself is derived from Stranieri Ovunque, the Turin anarchist collective that fights racism, but implicit in its use as a public sign are two meanings – an appeal to xenophobia, and a reminder of the estrangement of being foreign everywhere in a global society. Installed in the centre of the Mackelvie Gallery, in which Victorian European paintings are exhibited, they created a powerful statement against the ‘good morals’ of the conservatism of society and claims for cultural openness while questioning established museological order. Claire Fontaine is a pseudonym for two artists, which was taken from a brand of stationery. Embedded in much of Claire Fontaine’s work is the understanding that meanings can be confused, or changed, by relocation.

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