Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography.
The Spanish artist Rogelio López Cuenca manipulated the format of traditional tourism advertisements to depict “boat people,” refugees fleeing by boat, creating a critical statement about the unequal impact of globalization and the “biennialisation” of contemporary art. These posters were exhibited in an iconic place dealing with maritime history, Rotterdam’s Maritime Museum.