Acali

The Acali Expedition (also Acali Experiment[1] and the Sex Raft[2]) was a 1973 social experiment that aimed to investigate interpersonal relationships in conditions of limited space and social isolation.[3][2][4] The participants showed a restraint towards aggression which created frustration in the experimenter and led him to start to try to create conflict, and at one point he took command of the float. Despite these attempts, the group remained peaceful.[5]

The raft had a complement of eleven people: five men and six women. It left Las Palmas, Spain, on 12 May 1973 and took 101 days to drift across the Atlantic Ocean and reach Cozumel, Mexico, with a single stopover in Barbados. While frequently dubbed the "Sex Raft" by the media, it was the subject of a 2018 documentary film The Raft, by Marcus Lindeen. The experiment was conceived by Mexican anthropologist Santiago Genovés (who had previously been a crew member of Thor Heyerdahl's Ra expedition).

The raft

The name of the raft, Acali, comes from the Nahuatl language and means "the house on the water".[6][7]

The raft was built specifically for the experiment. It had a steel hull and dimensions of 12 by 7 metres. The cabin measured 4 x 4 metres in area. It was designed by José Antonio Mandri and Colin Mudie, and it was built in Newcastle, UK.[8]

Participants
  • Santiago Genovés Tarazaga (49 years old, male), Mexican anthropologist who devised the experiment.
  • José María Montero Pérez (34 years old, male), Uruguayan anthropologist and former student of Genovés.
  • Servane Zanotti (32 years old, female), French, responsible for conducting a study on pollution, scuba diver.
  • Charles Anthony (37 years old, male), Greek Cypriot, radio operator.
  • Rachida Mazani (23 years old, female), Algerian, responsible for conducting a study on pollution.
  • Mary Gidley (36 years old, female), American, with some knowledge of navigation.
  • Fé Evangelina Seymour (23 years old, female), American, radio operator.
  • Maria Björnstam (30 years old, female), captain of the expedition, Swedish.
  • Edna Jonas (32 years old, female), a Czechoslovak resident in Israel, doctor.
  • Bernardo Bongo (29 years old, male), Angolan priest.
  • Eisuke Yamaki (29 years old, male), Japanese, cameraman.

See also

References
  1. Storyville: The Raft, BBC4, 2 Jun 2019
  2. Jeffries, Stuart (14 Jan 2019). "Mutiny on the Sex Raft: how a 70s science project descended into violent chaos". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  3. The Acali Experiment: Five Men And Six Women On A Raft Across The Atlantic For 101 Days, by Santiago Genoves
  4. Mangan, Lucy (2 June 2019). "Storyville: The Raft review – almost too deliciously ludicrous to be true". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  5. https://www.svtplay.se/video/23019602/flotten?info=visa
  6. Balsa Acali: 100 días de convivencia en el mar hemeroteca.sevilla.abc.es, accessed 7 November 2019
  7. "New Transdisciplinary Visualities As an Alternative to Redistribute the Power of Thought", by Maris Bustamante, Social Justice 2006, 33(2), 165-170
  8. Experimento Acali: Viaje a las entrañas de la violencia armandorubenpuente.com, accessed 7 November 2019
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