Migrant Choir Migrant Choir is a project by:

MIGRANT CHOIR Public Studio (Elle Flanders & Tamira Sawatzky) INNO DELLE NAZIONI Adrian Blackwell is an action in which recent migrants to , and Choir project coordinator: their supporters, sing the anthems of Italy, France, Robert Elliot and The United Kingdom in front of these respective Choir Conductor: Eugenio Sorrentino Curator: Christine Shaw national pavilions at the 2015 Biennale. This performance is a speech act, in which non-citizens Choir Members: Siham Adaim claim their rights of citizenship while rendering the Isaac Akhidenor exclusionary nature of these anthems visible. Adam Atik Hamda Ben Rebeh Moro Camara Komedza David If there were no borders, most of the people in this choir wouldn’t Destiny Aifehesi be here, and tens of thousands like them wouldn’t be risking their Lynus Osayande Esther Osemi lives trying to cross the Mediterranean, scrambling over barbed wire Edith Jonah fences in Ceuta trying to get into Spain, huddled on the rocks in Hamdi Gaaloul Stephne Koumtozou Ventimiglia trying to get into France, crowded together in makeshift Tessy Louis camps in Calais trying to get into Britain. In , we think about Kemi Ohomba Salau Luqman borders and national anthems less and less, now that we can travel Uhunoma Enoma freely, now that our children can study in any university they want. Ogechi Obi Koffi Marthe Sylveste But to millions and millions of people, national anthems still mean Favoor John borders, and borders are a question of life and death, and that’s why Abdou Wahab Diakhate Adinou Yaovi Tokanou we are here singing. Isabella Fregnani Robert Elliot - Migrant Choir Project Coordinator and Cittadini del Mondo organiser: Carolina Peverati

“Se lo Stato-nazione ha un’anima, essa è partorita da una metafisica dell’esclusione.” [If the nation-state has a soul, it is born of a metaphysical exclusion.] Antonio Negri, July 2015

Migrant Choir, Inno Delle Nazioni received support from the following organizations for which we are truly grateful: SPRAR Ferrara, Cooperativa Sociale Camelot, MARE NOSTRUM Ferrara, Caritas diocesana di Ferrara-Comacchio, Cittadini del Mondo, and Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga. We would also like to thank S.a.L.E Docks, Barbara del Mercato and Beppe Caccia for their support and encouragement. INNO DI MAMELI

                                                           

                                                                        

                                                             

                                                                   

                                                                                                                             

              

                    

                   

            

LaLA MarseillaiseMARSEILLAISE Claude-Joseph Rouget de l‘Isle 2 Alla marcia f 16 Voice                          Al lons  en fants de la Pa tri  e, Le jour de      vien nent jus que dans nos bras é gor ger vos fils, vos com                             Piano              f                         4 19 ff                              gloire est ar ri vé. Con tre nous, de la ty ran ni e, L'é ten pag nes. Aux ar mes ci toy ens! For                                                            ff                                             8 ff p  22                    dard sanglant est le vé, l'é ten dard sanglant est le vé En ten  dez       mez vos ba tail lons, Mar chons, mar chons! 3                 ff   p                                                                                    cresc. 26 D.C. 12                            Qu'un sang im pur A breu ve nos sillons. vous, dans les cam pag nes Mu gir ces farou ches sol dats. Ils                                               cresc.                                                       Music engraving by LilyPond 2.12.2—www.lilypond.org 2015-07-17, 9:01 AM

2015-07-17, 9:01 AM

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

https://www.onlinesheetmusic.com/InstantPrint.aspx?key=0d557882-addd-43a4-a9cd-93d9fb799ea3 Page 1 of 3

https://www.onlinesheetmusic.com/InstantPrint.aspx?key=0d557882-addd-43a4-a9cd-93d9fb799ea3 Page 2 of 3 Il Canto degli Italiani Save the Queen (Standard Lyrics in Bold) (Standard Lyrics in Bold) (Standard Lyrics in Bold)

Italian lyrics English Translation English Lyrics French Lyrics

Fratelli d’Italia, , God save our gracious Queen! Allons enfants de la Patrie, Aux armes, citoyens... To arms, citizens... l’Italia s’è desta, Italy has woken, Long live our noble Queen! Le jour de gloire est arrivé ! dell’elmo di Scipio Bound Scipio’s helmet ! Contre nous de la tyrannie, Amour sacré de la Patrie, Tremble, tyrants and you traitors s’è cinta la testa. Upon her head. Send her victorious, L’étendard sanglant est levé, (bis) Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs The shame of all parties, Dov’è la Vittoria? Where is Victory? Happy and glorious, Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Liberté, Liberté chérie, Tremble! Your parricidal schemes Le porga la chioma, Let her bow down, Long to reign over us: Mugir ces féroces soldats ? Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (bis) Will finally receive their reward! (re- ché schiava di Roma For God created her God save The Queen! Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire peat) Iddio la creò. Slave of . Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes ! Accoure à tes mâles accents, Everyone is a soldier to combat you O Lord our God arise, Que tes ennemis expirants If they fall, our young heroes, Stringiamci a coorte, Let us join in a cohort, Scatter her enemies, Aux armes, citoyens, Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire ! The earth will produce new ones, siam pronti alla morte. We are ready to die. And make them fall: Formez vos bataillons, Ready to fight against you! Siam pronti alla morte, We are ready to die, Confound their politics, Marchons, marchons ! Aux armes, citoyens... l’Italia chiamò. Italy has called. Frustrate their knavish tricks, Qu’un sang impur To arms, citizens... Stringiamci a coorte, Let us join in a cohort, On Thee our hopes we fix: Abreuve nos sillons ! (bis) (Couplet des enfants) siam pronti alla morte. We are ready to die. God save us all. Nous entrerons dans la carrière Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors, Siam pronti alla morte, We are ready to die, Que veut cette horde d’esclaves, Quand nos aînés n’y seront plus, Bear or hold back your blows! l’Italia chiamò, sì! Italy has called, yes! Thy choicest gifts in store, De traîtres, de rois conjurés ? Nous y trouverons leur poussière Spare those sorry victims, On her be pleased to pour; Pour qui ces ignobles entraves, Et la trace de leurs vertus (bis) Who arm against us with regret. Noi fummo da secoli We were for centuries Long may she reign: Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (bis) Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre (repeat) calpesti, derisi, downtrodden, derided, May she defend our laws, Français, pour nous, ah ! quel outrage Que de partager leur cercueil, But not these bloodthirsty despots, perché non siam popolo, because we are not one people, And ever give us cause, Quels transports il doit exciter ! Nous aurons le sublime orgueil These accomplices of Bouillé, perché siam divisi. because we are divided. To sing with heart and voice, C’est nous qu’on ose méditer De les venger ou de les suivre All these tigers who, mercilessly, Raccolgaci un’unica Let one flag, one hope God save The Queen! De rendre à l’antique esclavage ! Rip their mother’s breast! bandiera, una speme: gather us all. Aux armes, citoyens... di fonderci insieme The hour has struck Aux armes, citoyens... To arms, citizens... già l’ora suonò. for us to unite. English Translation Sacred love of the Fatherland, Italian Translation Quoi ! des cohortes étrangères Stringiamci a coorte… Let us join in a cohort… Feraient la loi dans nos foyers ! Lead, support our avenging arms Arise, children of the Fatherland, Liberty, cherished Liberty, Dio salvi la nostra benevola Regina! Quoi ! Ces phalanges mercenaires Uniamoci, amiamoci, Let us unite, let us love one another, The day of glory has arrived! Fight with thy defenders! (repeat) Viva a lungo la nostra nobile Regina, Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers ! (bis) l’unione e l’amore For union and love Against us tyranny’s Under our flags, shall victory Dio salvi la Regina! Grand Dieu ! Par des mains enchaînées rivelano ai popoli Reveal to the people Bloody banner is raised,(repeat) Hurry to thy manly accents, Mandala vittoriosa, Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient le vie del Signore. The ways of the Lord. Do you hear, in the countryside, That thy expiring enemies, felice e gloriosa, De vils despotes deviendraient Giuriamo far libero Let us swear to set free The roar of those ferocious soldiers? See thy triumph and our glory! a regnare a lungo su di noi, Les maîtres de nos destinées ! il suolo natio: The land of our birth: They’re coming right into our arms Dio salvi la Regina! uniti, per Dio, United, for God, Aux armes, citoyens... To cut the throats of our sons, our women! To arms, citizens... chi vincer ci può? Who can overcome us? O Signore, nostro Dio, rivelati, To arms, citizens, (Children’s Verse) disperdi i suoi nemici, Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides Stringiamci a coorte… Let us join in a cohort… Form your battalions, We shall enter the (military) career e falli crollare. L’opprobre de tous les partis, Let’s march, let’s march! When our elders are no longer there, Confondi i loro intrighi, Tremblez ! vos projets parricides Dall’Alpi a Sicilia From the to , Let an impure blood There we shall find their dust ostacola le loro manovre disoneste, Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix ! (bis) dovunque è , Legnano is everywhere; Water our furrows! (Repeat) And the trace of their virtues (repeat) in te riponiamo le nostre speranze, Tout est soldat pour vous combattre, ogn’uom di Ferruccio Every man has the heart Much less keen to survive them Dio salvi tutti noi. S’ils tombent, nos jeunes héros, ha il core, ha la mano, and hand of Ferruccio La terre en produit de nouveaux, What does this horde of slaves, Than to share their coffins, i bimbi d’Italia The children of Italy Of traitors and conspiratorial kings want? We shall have the sublime pride I regali più preziosi che conservi, Contre vous tout prêts à se battre ! si chiaman Balilla, Are all called Balilla; For whom are these vile chains, Of avenging or following them sii disposto a riversarli su di lei, il suon d’ogni squilla Every trumpet blast These long-prepared irons? (repeat) possa regnare a lungo! Aux armes, citoyens... i Vespri suonò. sounds the Vespers. Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage To arms, citizens... Possa difendere le nostre leggi, What fury it must arouse! e darci sempre l’occasione Français, en guerriers magnanimes, Stringiamci a coorte… Let us join in a cohort… Portez ou retenez vos coups ! It is us they dare plan di cantare col cuore e con la voce, To return to the old slavery! Dio salvi la Regina! Épargnez ces tristes victimes, Son giunchi che piegano Mercenary swords, À regret s’armant contre nous. (bis) le spade vendute: they’re feeble reeds. Mais ces despotes sanguinaires, To arms, citizens... già l’Aquila d’Austria The Austrian eagle Mais ces complices de Bouillé, le penne ha perdute. Has already lost its plumes. Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié, What! Foreign cohorts Il sangue d’Italia, The blood of Italy Déchirent le sein de leur mère ! Would make the law in our homes! il sangue Polacco, and the Polish blood What! These mercenary phalanxes bevé, col cosacco, It drank, along with the Cossack, Would strike down our proud warriors! ma il cor le bruciò. But it burned its heart. (repeat) Great God ! By chained hands Stringiamci a coorte… Let us join in a cohort… Our brows would yield under the yoke Vile despots would have themselves The masters of our destinies! Italian Translation

Avanti, figli della Patria Che controvoglia si armano contro di noi Il giorno della gloria è arrivato! (bis) Contro di noi della tirannia Ma quei despoti sanguinari, La bandiera insanguinata è innalzata (bis) Ma quei complici di Bouillé Sentite nelle campagne Tutte quelle tigri che, senza pietà, Ruggire questi feroci soldati? Lacerano il seno della loro madre! Vengono fin nelle nostre braccia A sgozzare i nostri figli, le nostre com- Alle armi, cittadini,... pagne! Amore sacro della Patria, Alle armi, cittadini Conduci, sostieni le nostre braccia ven- Formate i vostri battaglioni dicatrici ITALY Marciamo, marciamo! Libertà, amata Libertà, Che un sangue impuro Combatti con i tuoi difensori! (bis) Imbeva i nostri solchi! Sotto le nostre bandiere che la vittoria Accorra ai tuoi maschili richiami, Che vuole quest’orda di schiavi, Che i tuoi nemici spiranti Di traditori, di re congiurati? Vedano il tuo trionfo e la nostra gloria! Per chi questi ignobili ostacoli, Questi ferri da tanto preparati? (bis) Alle armi, cittadini,... Francesi, per noi, ah! Che oltraggio THE ARSENALE Che fervori deve suscitare! (Strofa dei bambini) È noi che si osa pensare Noi entreremo nella carriera Di restituire all’antica schiavitù! Quando i nostri padri non ci saranno più, Noi ci troveremo le loro ceneri Alle armi, cittadini,... E il segno delle loro virtù (bis) Molto meno gelosi di loro sopravvivere Che! Delle coorti straniere Che di condividere la loro bara, Vorrebbero dettar legge nei nostri focolari! Avremo il sublime orgoglio Che! Queste falangi mercenarie Di vendicarli o di seguirli. Vorrebbero atterrire i nostri fieri guerrieri! (bis) Alle armi, cittadini... Gran Dio! Per mani incatenate Le nostre fronti sotto il giogo si pieghe- rebbero Dei vili despoti diventerebbero I detentori delle nostre sorti!

Alle armi, cittadini...

Tremate, tiranni e voi perfidi L’obbrobrio di tutti i partiti, Tremate! I vostri progetti parricidi Riceveranno finalmente i loro premi! (bis) Tutto è soldato per combattervi, Se cadono, i nostri giovani eroi, THE GIARDINI La terra ne produce di nuovi, Contro di voi ben pronti a battersi! FRANCE Alle armi, cittadini..., GREAT BRITAIN francesi, da guerrieri magnanimi, Vibrate o trattenete i vostri colpi! Risparmiate quelle tristi vittime, Wars, state repression, and poverty have forced an increasing number of migrants from Africa “La Marseillaise” (1792), calls repeatedly in the chorus for the spilling of impure blood. The and the Middle East to risk their lives, travelling from Lybia to Italy by sea. They await hearings Italian Anthem, “Il Canto degli Italiani” (1847) glorifies , the Roman general in welcome centers in Sicily, are stranded at Ventimiglia on the French border, and are encamped who conquered Carthage in 202 BC, recalling the Latin conquest of North Africa. “God save in Calais, awaiting entrance to Britain. The European response to this humanitarian crisis has the Queen” (1744), the anthem of the United Kingdom, threatens to “scatter her enemies… been cynical at best. Internal dissent has defeated even the modest proposal of accepting confound their politics, and frustrate their knavish tricks.” These songs are refrains. Singing them 60,000 refugees across Europe and inspired a hardening of European borders and enforcement draws a boundary in song, a line separating citizens from non-citizens. In 1862, Guiseppe Verdi procedures. In the province of , violent demonstrations recently erupted against a plan was commissioned to write an orchestral work for the World’s Fair; in response he wrote to house recent migrants in Treviso. In response, the President of Veneto and Northern League the cantata “Inno Delle Nazioni” (“Hymn of Nations”). His composition was written to describe member, Luca Zaia, declared “No more refugees will be arriving” as a direct rebuke to the world solidarity, yet combined only three national songs, those of Britain, Italy and France. This request by the national government’s proposal to settle migrants across the country and not only curation, designed to inflate the importance of Italy within Europe, appears in hindsight as a in the southern provinces. strangely prescient combination in relation to today’s struggles over migration.

The paths these migrants follow across Africa, the Middle East and Europe, trace backward the In the context of contemporary events, it seems appropriate to sing these songs together again, vectors of colonization that began in the late 19th century during the “scramble for Africa.” in opposition to their original meanings. The lines that demarcate the edges of the nation-states, Eritrea, whose repressive military state has provoked the movement of the most refugees were drawn alongside the lines that subdivided the nation into private properties, and the lines entering Italy this year, was an Italian colony from 1889-1941. Libya, the staging ground for that carved the world into colonies. It is precisely these exclusionary lines that are reinforced by voyages to Europe, was Italy’s colony from 1912-1947. Somalia, the country with the second the lines of words and music that form these anthems. But the act of singing them is politically

INNO DELLE NAZIONI largest number of refugees heading to Italy, was divided between Italy and Britain for the first expressive in ways that exceed the meaning of their lyrics, and the intended emotional effect of half of the 20th century. The other nations from which the most migrants are escaping, were their scores. Singing is a line, which has great power to create social connections and affective colonized by either the British – Nigeria, Gambia, Sudan – or the French – Syria, Senegal, and responses. When many people sing together these lines intermingle, resonate and amplify, to Mali.1 Syria, whose devastating civil war is source of the most global migrants today, was assigned create a kind of superlinearity.3 This effect can be mobilized to defend the nation, but it also to France as part of the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, which gave the French control over can forge solidarities across national lines, or in resistance to the idea of the nation as a closed Syria until 1946. territory. Inno Delle Nazioni, Migrant Choir, is an affirmation of citizenship as an act of self- definition. Citizenship is defined here not by the exclusive membership in a given national group, Colonization played an essential part in the of the modern capitalist economy. but as the act of demanding “the right to have rights.”4 But as migrants sing these songs their Throughout the long process of what Karl Marx called “so-called primitive accumulation”, meanings self-implode and their exclusionary logics come undone. during which capitalism was formed, three novel lines transformed the globe: the borders of European nation-states, the enclosure of peasant lands as private property, and the subdivision The action is performed in solidarity with migrant rights organizations around the world. of the world beyond Europe into colonies.2 These lines may seem like artifacts of history, but they act as foundations for the intertwined divisions that organize our world today. Endnotes

The Venice Biennale was founded in 1895 as a celebration of Italian national arts, but it evolved 1 For the “Origin of migrants arriving in Italy by sea, Jan. to April 2015” see: “What’s Behind quickly into an international biennale. By 1914, at the zenith of European Imperialism, there were the Surge in Refugees Crossing the Mediterranean Sea”, New York Times, May 21, 2015. http:// MIGRANT CHOIR seven national pavilions in the Giardini: Italy (1895), Belgium (1907), Hungary (1909), Germany www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/20/world/europe/surge-in-refugees-crossing-the- (1909), Great Britain (1909), France (1912), and Russia (1914). The plan of the Biennale grounds mediterranean-sea-maps.html with its two axes – the original Italian pavilion at the end of one, Britain flanked by France and 2 See Karl Marx, Capital Volume I, Trans. Ben Fowkes (London: Penguin books, 1990), 871-940. Germany at the end of the other – has been built as an evolving representation of the balance and Sandro Mezzadra and Brett Neilson, “Fabrica Mundi: Producing the World by Drawing of hegemony between national and colonial powers. The biennale itself functioned for much of Borders” in Scapegoat: Architecture, Landscape, Political Economy, Issue 04: Currency, 4-19. its history as a project to assert the collective cultural supremacy of Europe over the rest of the 3 Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari use the word superlinearity to describe precisely this effect world. of voices. See A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987), 62. Europe’s national anthems were written between the 18th and 19th centuries. They are nationalist 4 See Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (Cleveland: Meridian Books, 1962 [1951]), hymns, deeply ideological compositions designed to inspire common people to risk their lives 298; and Engin Isin, “Citizenship after orientalism” opendemocracy.net /engin-isin/citizenship- to defend newly invented states. Often these simple songs point to the pure race of the nation, after-orientalism-introduction or allude to the conquest of neighbouring territories, or far off lands. The French Anthem,