According to a report written by Amnesty International, at least 6,500 migrant workers have died in the past 12 years in Qatar due to unsafe working conditions. Although some labour reforms have been voted on since 2017, a failure to implement those laws means that the exploitative labour system of the country has been continuing through the preparation of this event. This is exactly what many artists are protesting against. As some people decide to boycott the event and not watch any game, others use their creative force to send a message of shame to the country or of tribute to the late workers.
The Russian artist Andrei Molodkin designed a replica of the World Cup trophy filled with crude oil to emphasise what he considers the “crude truth” about the corruption at Fifa. The clever play on the word is a way to make his protest impactful. Molodkin declared in a statement that, as Fifa managers knew about the disastrous quality of work in Qatar and still did nothing, for them “oil money is more important than blood”.
The Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt, on the other hand, decided to directly pay tribute to the workers in his art. He conceived a necklace made up of 6,500 minuscule skulls, each one representing one migrant worker who died in Qatar under the dangerous and difficult working conditions imposed on them.
Although both of these pieces of works are the main ones which have been recognised, they are not the only ones showing their protest against human rights abuses in Qatar. In April 2022, the German artist Volker-Johannes Trieb, dropped 6,500 deflated footballs outside of the Fifa headquarters on which he had written “Weltgewissen, du bist ein Fleck der Schande” meaning, “conscience of the world, you are a stain of shame”. Contrastingly to his counterparts, he aimed at both, in the same design, shaming Fifa and the part that they took in not stopping the human rights abuses and paying tribute to the workers who died.
In their actions, artists are hoping to shed light on the situation and call for change in the field of football.