Felipe Romero Beltrán – Dialect

"Dialect" documents three years of state violence experienced by nine young Moroccan migrants trapped in a Kafkaesque limbo in Seville, southern Spain. When underage migrants enter the country illegally and their age cannot be verified, they fall under state custody, subjected to a lengthy process lasting up to three years to attain legal status.

In this state of suspension and liminality, Beltrán utilizes the body as a metaphor. Through a carefully crafted blend of photography, performance, and collaboration, the weight of idle time weighs heavily upon these young men, engaging in dialogue with their memories, journeys, and the degrading mundanity of waiting and migration. Accompanied by video works and choreographed dance, "Dialect" breaks new ground in documentary practice, shedding critical light on bureaucratic oppression.