A member with refugee experience from the Club La Fafa (French for ‘the family’) submitted two applications for asylum in Switzerland and was rejected twice. This was followed by the status of sans papier and subsequently the decision to leave Switzerland.
During the waiting period until the first decision, the person, like all other asylum seekers, lived in precarious circumstances, and after the first negative decision on CHF 8.50 per day. Minor offences were committed (fare evasion, theft of food, …), whereupon the resulting fines could not be paid and were enforced with substitute custodial sentences. A never-ending spiral of prison sentences was set in motion.
Raphael Perret (Club La Fafa), has lithographed eight penalty orders in the Thomi Wolfensberger lithographic print shop in an edition of 3 copies + 1AP on handmade paper and flocked them with excerpts of the factual statements in gold. They are now being offered for sale as originals. The net proceeds will be passed on unconditionally to the anonymous member of the association as seed capital.
While waiting for asylum decisions, applicants are severely restricted in their freedom of action and movement. The risk of mental illness and re-traumatisation is high. Anyone who commits an offence during this time, even if it is simply fare dodging due to a lack of money, has little chance of escaping the cycle of penalties without outside help, let alone receiving a positive asylum decision.
Class justice takes on a new quality in the asylum context, as those affected without a social network have to navigate a system that even laypeople who have lived here for a long time have difficulty understanding. However, this system is inflexibly harsh and responds to social problems or self-created living conditions with the penal code. Who knows what it means to live in Switzerland without money? What does it mean when petty offences are punished with days and weeks in prison and at the same time billions are sunk and those responsible not only go unpunished but are also rewarded?
Anyone who leaves their country does so for a reason. The criteria that play a role in the application of the asylum law for the authorities in the country of arrival, i.e. not the law itself, but factors such as regional origin etc., do not play a role at the moment of departure. Even if life in Europe is stressful, it still offers more protection, hope and opportunities than the situation in the country of origin.
This work is about a person who we want to support on a small scale. It is not about a systematic world plan. We show understanding for the circumstances of life and recognise ourselves as people who could find themselves in a situation where we need help and a network at any time. In full knowledge of the offences, we create a space of utopia and overcome any existing, small-scale moral concepts – a glance at the history books of the last few hundred years and the business section of a current daily newspaper should be enough to understand the bigger picture. Nevertheless, we support the person and recognise that she or he are of age to decide for themselves how to use the proceeds.
The lithographs will be sold in connection with the upcoming exhibition of individual members of Club La Fafa and Raphael Perret at Kupper Modern in 2025.
███████ was born in ██████ ████ █████ ███ ███ ██████████████████ ████████ ███████ █████ ███ ██ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ ████████████ ██████ ████ ██████ █████ ██ ██ █████ ████ ████ █████ Whereupon ████ decided to leave the country and flee.
Living with 8.50 CHF
Edition
8 lithographs from aluminium
2-coloured, black and gold hand flocked
Rives handmade paper 300gm2, hand-torn
3 Ex. + 1AP
framed: 357x480mm
unframed: 297x420mm
Sales prices
Lithograph framed: 1’325.- CHF (framing: 225.- CHF)
unframed: 1’100.- CHF
Production costs
Lithography: 1’621.50 CHF
Frame: 1’847.45 CHF
Total: 3’767.44 CHF
Calculation:
Costs are covered after 3 framed lithographs have been sold.
All other proceeds go to the anonymous member of the association.