GCAC: Centro di permanenza temporanea

Cal State Fullerton’s Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) presents Adrian Paci: Centro di permanenza temporanea.

Adrian Paci is known for his performance, and video works exploring globalization, migration, and exploitation issues in the 21st century. Trained as a realist painter in the Albanian capital Tirana

The exhibit’s central setting is an airport with people patiently boarding an aircraft staircase. They form a queue while we can observe planes taking off and landing in the background. Gradually, the stairs fill up with migrant men and women. They must squeeze together to make space for the people moving up. The people’s faces mirror their yearning for the fulfillment of a humane life without discrimination and cultural uprooting. The camera slowly circles the free-standing staircase. Where is this flight bound? In its title, the video Centro di Permanenza Temporanea (2007) refers to the Italian name for the temporary camps for illegal immigrants arriving weekly on the Italian coasts.