Out of Choice, Out of Necessity
Themed Portfolio Exchange organized by Roberto Torres Mata
Description
Migration has been a phenomenon that has always been part of society – it is not a problem but a human right. My proposal for this exchange is focusing on the current issue of migration in this country as this administration has become defensive against any people who are coming to the United States who are fleeing their homeland to find a safer better life. This in effect will change societies restrict or create a barrier to cut-off the movements from people they end up destroying the life and psychologically harm families or communities.
The theme for this exchange will bring attention to issues that demonize migration, counteracts the contradictions of resentment that politicians have for migrants. There is a significant problem and it takes a form of resistance to rise against the discrimination that carries from people migrating for a better life.
I want to re-contextualize migration as a social practice, that it shouldn’t be suppressed but become related to, like climate change. Migration is never-ending, people migrate because their homes stifle them, because those homes become burdens they need to shed to have full lives. As a first-generation Mexican American, I’m a product of my family seeking economic opportunity and political freedom which also enticed many other people leaving Mexico who dealt with the hardship and corruption from a dysfunctional government. My own family moved to find opportunity, or to escape their past, or to simply survive. They move because of lies they are told and that they come to believe, and they move to fulfill the most beautiful and fragile of dreams.
With our current political landscape and administration, we are living at a time which the media coverage of the migrant crisis of Central Americans have been obscured by biased stigmas. The United States reacted by using deterrence with thousands of active duty military to the border just to halt the rising arrivals of Central American asylum seekers and migrants. As of Spring of 2018, the administration initiated a zero-tolerance policy to prosecute all adults caught crossing the border illegally. That policy allowed the separation of children from their families as a result of the separation of more than 69,550 migrant children as young as toddlers were separated from their parents. This action from the U.S government to forcibly separate children and sent to detention centers will forever have caused irreparable emotional and physical damage. The continued failure to uphold the most basic principles of human dignity and protection for migrants is a result of the U.S failure to support humanitarian needs.
This portfolio will allow me to bring attention that it needs for MAPC, empowering the media sphere with a strong visual context that fights against the current stigma that exacerbates the racial/ethnic disparities of migration. The print folio addresses the current migrant issues and the language that is used against families who are only seeking a better way of life.
About the organizer
Roberto Torres Mata is a 2nd year MA and MFA Graduate student in printmaking program at the Art Department of University of Wisconsin Madison. He emphasizes on the contemporary work of Mexican traditions, beliefs, folklore, mythology, and narratives that has impacted his life. His work speaks to the growing misrepresentation the United States views Mexico. As a first generation Mexican-American with roots to Mexico he expresses his knowledge through art while being socially conscious to the issues that deals with racial/ethnic prejudices, political discourse against migration, and environmental issues. His work has been shown and exhibited in New York City, Chicago, Madison, Oaxaca, and Milwaukee as well as Figgie art Museum, Trout Museum of Art, Galesburg Civic Center.
Participants
Alan Serna, Adriana Barrios, Andy Villanueva, Ash Armenta, April Bleakney, Ben Iluzada, Droopy Dave, Derick Wycherly, Derek Hibbs, Edward Bernstein, Emily Arthur, Faisal Abdu'Allah, Garry Kaulitz, Hugo Juarez, Ian Ruppenthal, Jacob M. Bautista, Jason Garcia, Juana Estrada, Joseph Velasquez, J. Leigh Garcia, Lauren Cardenas, Marco Sanchez, Marco Hernandez, Manuel Guerra, Roberto Torres Mata
Special Visiting Hours
October 14–16
Friday: Noon–9pm
Saturday: Noon–5pm
Sunday: 10am- 5pm
Location
Reinberger Gallery
Cleveland Institute of Art ground floor
11610 Euclid Ave, Cleveland
Wearing face coverings at this location is strongly recommended, and official protocols are determined by the CDC’s community level spread for Cuyahoga County. When community spread is low or medium, masks are optional. When community spread is high, masks are required. As of 10/08/2022, community spread is medium and masks are recommended. Being up-to-date on Covid-19 vaccinations is also strongly recommended at this location. More information here: https://www.cia.edu/about-us/safety-security/smart-return-to-school