Rebecca Thorburn Stern will talk about current migration flows at the borders of Europe and how States act to govern, manage and curb migration.

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Olafur Eliasson´s artwork Green Light is part of the SSE permanent collection and is placed in the corridor outside the Presidents office. It´s an artwork that is a result of artistic workshops by Eliasson at the Venice biennale 2017, where refugees, asylum seekers and members of the public participated in a programme of creativity and shared learning. The programme included a workshop for the construction of Green light lamps, language courses, seminars, artist’s interventions and film screenings.

"Green light is an act of welcoming, addressed both to those who have fled hardship and instability in their home countries and to the residents of the cities receiving them." Olafur Eliasson

Santiago Mostyn´s videowork SUEDI (Slow Wave Edit)  is screened in the corridor to the right when entering from Sveavägen 65. SUEDI is a pair of music videos created in response to Erik Lundin’s Suedi, a popular Swedish rap song that has become an anthem for Afro-Swedish youth. Both videos show bodies in motion. In one video, two Swedish wrestlers are filmed, and in the second video we see raw drone footage used by news outlets to depict the movement of asylum seekers from Syria in southern Europe. 

"What does it mean when we mediate refugees, black and brown people, suffering on a screen with the watcher being on the other side of that screen. It produces a separation between `us and them." Santiago Mostyn

Rebecca Thorburn Stern is Professor of Public International Law and Research Director Uppsala Forum on Democracy, Peace and Justice. Her main research interests include human rights law with a particular focus on children's rights, asylum/migration law, and the relationship between international and national law.

Pic from a Green Light workshop by Olafur Eliasson at the Venice Biennale in 2917.

Pic from Santiago Mostyn´s SUEDI.