The fishing boat capsized and sank off the coast of Libya on April 19, 2015, after colliding with a Portuguese cargo ship that had come to its aid.
It was carrying almost 1000 people at the time.
Twenty-eight people were rescued.
Only 24 bodies were recovered in the area.
The Italian Navy estimates around 800 people died, many trapped inside behind locked doors.
Among the survivors of the shipwreck was the boat’s captain, who was later sentenced to 18 years in prison for manslaughter.
In 2016, Italy spent around €10 million to raise the wreck from a depth of 370 metres and transport it to Sicily so the victims could be identified and given a proper burial.
A large rectangular opening was cut in the hull so rescue workers could complete the distressing task of recovering hundreds of bodies, with dozens of medical examiners called in to examine the remains of up to 900 victims.
Travel documents were found from Bangladesh, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Somalia and Sudan, along with small packets of soil from some migrants’ homelands and a school report that a teenager had sewn into their clothing.
The victims now rest in several cemeteries across Sicily, and it was decided to not destroy the boat but house it in a Sicilian “memory garden”.
After months of painstaking negotiation with the Italian government, the wreck will be exhibited in the Venice Arsenale during the Venice Biennale as a stark reminder of the tragic incident.
Swiss artist Christoph Buchel obtained permission from Italian authorities and a group that represents the victims to transport the hull to Venice as part of a project called ‘Barca Nostra’ (Our Boat).
It will be shown in a shipyard by itself, without any explanation.
The Venice Biennale runs from May 11 to November 24.
