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This art exhibition embodiesmany of the hopes and aspirations ofmillions of Latin Americans and Caribbeans now living outside their home countries. First, through the hands and eyes of the region’s artists, we hope to challenge old stereotypes concerning migrants andmigration, and to show the human and community perspectives so often overlooked. Second, this exhibition represents the visual launch of a collaboration between the Inter-American Development Bank’s Social Sector Department and its Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) that will seek new policy approaches to address the social, labor and economic dimensions of migration.
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Introduction
This art exhibition embodies many of the hopes and aspirations of millions of LatinAmericans and Caribbeans now living outside their home countries. First, through thehands and eyes of the region’s artists, we hope to challenge old stereotypes concerningmigrants and migration, and to show the human and community perspectives so oftenoverlooked. Second, this exhibition represents the visual launch of a collaborationbetween the Inter-American Development Bank’s Social Sector Department and itsMultilateral Investment Fund (MIF) that will seek new policy approaches to address thesocial, labor and economic dimensions of migration.
The artworks on exhibit were selected from the submissions of 140 artists born in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean. They highlight the historical impact of migration on the region,particularly the very different migration patterns emerging today, including intraregionaltrends (e.g. Bolivians to Argentina, Guatemalans to Mexico) as well as to new countries ofdestination such as Spain and Japan.
Over the past decade, the MIF has put a spotlight on the enormous flows of financialresources – remittances – from migrant workers to their families back home. Not only doremittances lift millions out of poverty, but they are also redefining migrant families’possibilities in terms of health care and education, and improving conditions for the localcommunities in which they live. Approximately 25 million people have left their countriesof origin, all the while maintaining close ties to their families. These millions of familieshave truly become transnational, living in two countries and contributing to twoeconomies and cultures at the same time.
This exhibition includes artists from Argentina, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, ElSalvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Uruguay; and provides a window into the social,economic and labor impacts of migration. We thank the IDB Cultural Center, in particularFélix Angel and Elba Agusti, for their dedication and talent; their efforts have made thisexhibit possible. We would also like to thank Jacqueline Mazza and the Social SectorDepartment for initiating this project and carrying out the accompanying seminar on thesocial and labor dimensions of migration. And finally, we thank the artists for theirparticipation and for inspiring us to work together, in a new initiative, to better the livesand contributions of migrants throughout the region, and to bring migration out of theshadows into the development strategies of the coming decades.
Donald TerryManagerMultilateral Investment FundWashington, D.C.
Works on exhibition
1. En espera por irse (Waiting to Leave) by Andrea Aragón,Suchítepequez, Guatemala, from the series Punto de Fuga (VanishingPoint), 2007, photograph, 11 x 14 inches
2. Mama Tina (Mother Tina) by Andrea Aragón, Guatemala City, from the series Punto de Fuga(Vanishing Point), 2001, photograph, 11 x 14 inches
Andrea Aragón (b. Guatemala City, 1970) exhibited her project Verte por última vez (To See You for theLast Time), about HIV-infected people, in the Bancafé Lobbywhich was visited by 10,000 people, andpublished in the book Pandemic: Facing AIDS (Umbrage Editions, New York, 2003). Another series, Lalínea (The Line), about prostitution, was exhibited in Guatemala and New York (2004-2008), andincluded in the book Cuerpos II (Bodies II, Synchromy-La Sombra, Buenos Aires, Argentina).
She has been included in numerous group exhibitions and has presented solo shows at the CentroCultural de España (Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica),Museo X-Teresa (Mexico City), Galería CarlosWoods, Artecentro Fundación Paiz, Centro Colloquia, Galería Contexto, Centro Cultural Metropolitano,andMusac (Guatemala) and Chasama Gallery (New York). She was included in the bookMapasAbiertos (OpenMaps), on contemporary Latin American photography (Lunwerg, Barcelona, 2004). In2006, the editorial Del Pensativo House (Guatemala), published her book Guatemala demis dolores(Guatemala of My Pains). [email protected]/[email protected]
Moisés Castillo (b. Antigua, Guatemala, 1975) began working as aphotojournalist at age 16. In 1995 he joined The Associated Press, andmany of his photos have been published by the agency throughout theworld, and in The New York Times Magazine, Le Monde, El País, The NewYorker and Time. In 1996 he helped to found El Periódico (TheNewspaper) in Guatemala, a daily where he works as photo [email protected]/[email protected]
Works on exhibition
3. Lejos de casa (Far from home) by Sandra Sebastián, McAllenDetention Center, Texas, U.S.A., from the series Punto de Fuga (VanishingPoint), 2005, photograph, 11 x 14 inches
Sandra Sebastián (b. Guatemala City, 1976) grew up working with her father andbrothers, who are also photographers. She received her masters in Journalism and currently she iscompleting post-graduate studies in Visual Anthropology at the University of Barcelona. She hasworked as a photojournalist since 1998 with the dailies Siglo XXI and El Periódico in Guatemala. Shehas also collaborated as a stringer with Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press, Polaris andReuters, in addition to national and international publications, and has exhibited her work in solo andgroup shows in Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, the United States, Cuba, Ireland, France and [email protected]
A group from Guatemala
Works on exhibition
4.En laaduana (At Customs), 2007, oil on canvas,60 x 70 cms.
5.Recién llegados (NewlyCome), 2007, oil oncanvas, 60 x 70 cms.
6.Buscando trabajo (Looking forWork), 2007, oilon canvas, 100 x 85 cms.
At age 16, Andrea Gelsi Castillo (b. Montevideo,Uruguay, 1956) joined the workshop of artistEdgardo Ribeiro, a disciple of Uruguayanmodernist pioneer Joaquín Torres-García. Latershe continued her artistic education with thepainters E. Ribeiro Nario, C. Lara, G. Acevedo, V.Jones, D. Vicente, and the sculptress M. Ugolino. Since 1980 she has exhibited inboth solo and group shows in Montevideo, and she haspainted murals for two hospitals in Uruguay.She currently studies philosophy andpsychology at the Faculty of Humanities inMontevideo, and also teaches psychologythere. She is married to Marcelo Sheppard andhas four children: Marcelo José, Estefanía,Agustín y Gonzalo. Her father Adolfo Gelsi is alawyer, and her mother Ana María Castillo asculptress and family [email protected]
StatementI am interested in the psychic continuitytransmitted through generations of individualswithin a family, which goes beyond citizenship.They share moving and chimerical stories, andsometimes painful family experiences causedby separation and displacement. I admire theperseverance of immigrants in the face ofadversity, their capacity to endure a lack ofresources and to deal with loss and maintain asense of solidarity even with those they leftbehind in their original countries. It is important tounderstand the situation of the migrant, since thisway we can understand their cultural differences and live together without expecting everyone tobehave the same. Global society demands today a different sense of citizenship more adjusted toour multinational, multicultural, and multiethnic reality.
Uruguay
Works on exhibition
7. En camino (On the Way), 2001, aguafuerte-aguatinta, 40 x 64 cms
Mirta Kupferminc (b. Buenos Aires, Argentina,1955) has exhibited extensively in Argentinaand abroad since 1977, receiving severalawards, such as First Prize at Argentina’sNational Salon of Printmaking (1997),Honorable Mention at the Taipei InternationalBiennial (1999), Silver Medal at the TaiwanInternational Print Biennial (2006), and ThirdPrize at the Kochi (Japan) InternationalBiennial (2008). She has represented Argentinaat the International Printmaking Biennials andTriennials of Krakow, Gÿor (Hungary), PuertoRico and Ljubljana. Her work will be shown in November 2008 at theUniversity of Maryland. [email protected]
StatementI am the daughter of Auschwitz survivorswho arrived in Argentina in 1948. Theexperience of exile and migration of myparents has marked my whole life.Migration frequently deprives children ofbeing brought up with grandparents orextended family; I was raised withoutphotographs or belongings from previousgenerations. This situation deeply shaped myart and my concerns with identity andcultural heritage.
Argentina is a country made up of multipleethnic and immigrant groups. Globalizationand increasing social inequalities haveendangered a planet that has turned out to beinhospitable for people, hence, the territoriesfade and the individuals keep on passingendlessly.
In my works, different characters pass byendlessly, carrying their own roots, their cities,their cultures and also their fantasies and fears. Each character in my work is a protagonist oftheir own stories walking by the edges of the world. Each one is alone. Each one is unique andindividual.
Argentina
Works on exhibition
8.GreatLiaisons, 2007, Enamel markers, acrylic,digital image, lens and resin on wood, 12 x 12 x 4inches
9.AtDusk, 2007, Enamel markers, acrylic, digitalimage, lens and resin on wood, 12 x 12 x 4 inches
Luisa María Mesa (b. Havana, Cuba, 1951) moved toMiami in 1953 when she was only two years old.Although she has lived in Spain, Venezuela andPuerto Rico for a total of twelve years, she has spentmost of her life in Miami, where she currently livesand works.
She is interested in exploring the nature ofhuman consciousness and our relationship – as individuals – to the largerpicture. The process of repetitive drawing is the essenceof her work; it is calming, meditative andinsightful. Lines are a metaphor for ourinterconnectedness and the layers alludeto the multidimensionality and differentlevels of our existence.
Ms. Mesa earned her BFA (magna cumlaude) at Florida International University, is amember of Phi Beta Kappa, and has exhibitedher work in numerous venues. Luisa’s work isincluded in several important collections andshe is an Artist-in-Residence atArtCenter/South Florida in Miami [email protected]
StatementAlthough Miami is home for me, I cannotoverlook the fact that I was born in Havana,Cuba, as were both my parents. Miami is where Iestablished my cultural identity and sense ofself. Notwithstanding, there is a part of me thatis and forever will be associated with Cuba, ifonly through the experiences of my parents,grandparents and the many friends and acquaintances that have a story to tell. For me, Cuba hasa romantic and nostalgic allure – like the image of that long lost love that lingers on in your mind,despite the passing of time; it is that unfinished situation that you fantasize about and almostcertainly has very little to do with reality. When I was a child, my mother, father and grandmother,would always tell me stories about growing up in Cuba, about how good it was. My work is a mirrorof self and through it I work out spiritual, emotional and psychological issues.
Cuba-USA
Works on exhibition
10. Sin título (Untitled), 2007, Mexico-Guatemala Border, photograph, 16 x 20 inches
11. Sin título (Untitled), 2007, Mexico-Guatemala Border, photograph, 16 x 20 inches
Alberto Millares (b. Mexico City, Mexico, 1973)graduated as a graphic designer in 1999 fromthe Universidad Tecnológica de México, andthen studied photography, photojournalism,and portraiture at the Centro de la Imagen andthe Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superioresof Monterrey. In 2001 he presented his firstsolo exhibition entitled Fotos (Photos) for theFotoseptiembre competition. In 2003 he movedto Montreal, Canada, where he worked for the daily La Voz (The Voice) andPunto y Aparte. He returned to Mexico City in 2005,working for the daily Milenio and Procesomagazine, in addition to exhibiting hisartwork in Les Clochards du Metro, amongother venues. He received an honorablemention in the Third Save the Childrenphotography contest (III ConcursoIberoamericano de Fotografia, 2006), andcurrently works for Proceso magazine inMexico [email protected]
StatementIt is estimated that 500,000 people leave mycountry, Mexico, each year. In the last 50years, 30 million Mexicans migrated to theUnited States. To talk about migration in Mexicois an everyday affair, something natural, partof daily life. It is difficult to find a person whodoes not have a relative in the U.S. makingmoney and sending something to the family thatwas left behind.
The fact that I am a photojournalist allows me tobe in contact with the real situations created bymigration from Mexico, not only on the northern border with the U.S., but also on the southern one,between Guatemala and Mexico, which is a forgotten frontier, a boundary Mexicans do not want tosee or to exist. My works document what happens along that frontier.
Mexico
Works on exhibition
19. La fiesta (The Party), Latacunga, Ecuador,2007, photograph, 2.50 x 63 cm
20. Los meseros (The Waiters), Quito, Ecuador,2007, photograph, 190 x 32 cm
21. Los que regresan (Those Who Return), Quito,Ecuador, 2007, photograph, 250 x 48 cm
Geovanny Verdezoto (b. Santo Domingo de losColorados, Ecuador, 1984) lives and works inQuito. He graduated from San FranciscoUniversity of Quito with a BA in contemporaryart and a minor in photography. He hasexhibited his work since 2006. Althoughphotography is a relatively new medium for him, he was encouraged by thepublication of his first book of photography, Los que sequedan (Those Who Stay) in Ecuador in2007, and the award he received at theInternational Festival of Photography heldin Rome in [email protected]
StatementMy photos represent a never-ending journeythrough my native country, seeking facesand multiple stories. I have always beeninterested in trying to portray a more humanaspect of immigration. I have traveledEcuador looking for characters that can helpme to reach into the essence of my country’ssoul. I wanted to register the reality of asimple, humble, warm and humane country, soI could show it to those who left their familiesbehind, for whatever reason. My vision is farfrom the perfect, at times epic, a depiction onemay find in a postcard or calendar. Instead, mypictures are a portrait of a country abandonedby its own citizens.
Ecuador
Works on exhibition
17. El otro rostro del inmigrante (The Other Faceof the Immigrant), 2006, giclée on canvas, 40 x30 inches
18. Chao Mein y Pupusas (Chow Mein andPupusas), 2008, Diptych, giclée on canvas, 24 x60 inches
Nicolás F. Shi (b. San Salvador, El Salvador,1958), a long-time Washington, DC resident,was born in El Salvador to Chinese parents. In1980, he left his war-torn country and came tothe United States to attend college, receiving aMasters degree in Architectural Engineeringfrom Oklahoma State University in 1986. Hepracticed Architecture and Engineering for more than ten years beforededicating himself to painting. He has received severalrecognitions for his work, in El Salvadorand Washington, including the Medal ofHonor in Fine Arts from the SalvadoranConsulate in Washington, DC. He was thewinner of the international paintingcompetition “Salvadoreño trabajador decorazón” in 2000. An air-mail stamp bearinghis winning entry was issued the same yearby the Salvadoran Postal [email protected]
StatementI have lived the “immigration experience”twice, first as the son of Chinese immigrantsto El Salvador, and again when I moved to theUnited States. In a way, I think the recentSalvadoran diaspora mimics the Chinesemassive migration of the late 19th and early20th centuries. In El Salvador, my familyexperienced all the problems and tribulationsthat Salvadorans are living nowadays in thiscountry. They suffered discrimination, theyfeared deportation and they rejoiced in theopportunity to raise their children in a betterenvironment. By living in three different cultures I have taken the best that each one has to offer.My work —and life— have been influenced by my Salvadoran upbringing, my Chinese heritage,and my formal education in the United States.
El Salvador
Works on exhibition
14. Inmobiliaria “Los Inmigrantes” (“TheImmigrants” Real Estate Agency), Campos de Nijar,Almería, Spain, from the Immigrants series, 2006,photograph, 30 x 46 cm
15. Lamiradade los invisibles (The Lookof theInvisible Ones), Campos de Nijar, Almería, Spain,from the Immigrants series, 2006, photograph, 30x 46 cm
16. Tránsito en elMarBlanco (Transit in theWhiteSea), Campos de Nijar, Almería, Spain, from theImmigrants series, 2006, photograph, 30 x 46 cm
Tess Quintana (b. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1966)began working in photography in 1985 while living in Peru. In 1995, she studieddocumentary photography with the editors of the Sundaymagazine of the Argentine newspaperClarín,and created her own magazine (AltaMontaña) dedicated to extreme sports. In1996 she received a Fulbright fellowshipthrough Argentina’s National Fund for the Artsand attended New York University and theInternational Center of Photography (ICP). Shehas exhibited in Buenos Aires, New York,Mexico and Barcelona. The present workbelongs to a series called Immigrants, whichshe is developing while in Almeria, in [email protected]
StatementAs an immigrant myself, I can identify with howimmigrants feel and experience life, their dailydifficulties, their great struggles, and theirloneliness. I am attracted to the idea of connectingpeople while in transit, and dig into what it meansto be on an alien continent without being invited orfeeling welcome. When I began this series, and gotto know the people, I came across the key of myessay: the encounter with their looks, reflecting thesilent truths of disillusion, disappointment and a few small successes.In these encounters, I was a witness to vital and urgent need of human beings: the need to find a placeto take shelter, clean oneself and fill one’s stomach after a difficult day of work. A human being is acreature of habit, a being which becomes accustomed, and seeks -- despite difficulties -- to overcome.In my case, I sought daily objects which themselves speak of a culture, a necessity, an identity askingfor a place.This is for all those who with their efforts have been able to continue with hope.
Argentina
Works on exhibition
12. Entre los sueños y las pesadillas (BetweenDreams and Nightmares), 2008, acrylic oncanvas 30 x 49 inches
13. Barquito de papel (Paper Boat), 2008,mixed media on canvas, 40 x 55 inches
José Pión (b. Higuey, Dominican Republic,1977) is a self-taught artist. In 2008, hestudied advertising and marketing at the AcciónPro Educación y Cultura school (APEC) in SantoDomingo, where he currently lives and works.He received an award for sound performance atthe Dominican Republic’s XXIV National Biennial(2007), the first time a prize was awarded inthis category in the [email protected]
StatementEvery day around the world thousands ofpeople leave their home behind, riskingwhatever they have, including loved ones,customs, traditions, values and language,with the intention of crossing over to aforeign land in search of a better future.Dreams often crash and lives are lost. Someare able to achieve what they set out to do. Iam interested in those who put their own andothers’ lives in jeopardy for a betteropportunity and end up with nothing in return.
Dominican Republic
Guatemala
The Inter-American Development Bank
Luis Alberto Moreno, PresidentDaniel M. Zelikow, Executive Vice-PresidentOtaviano Canuto, Vice-President for CountriesSantiago Levy, Vice-President for Sectors and KnowledgeManuel Rapoport, Vice-President for Finance and AdministrationSteven J. Puig, Vice President for Private Sector and Non-Sovereign Guaranteed OperationsDonald Terry, Manager, Multilateral Investment FundKei Kawabata, Manager, Social SectorPablo Halpern, External Relations Advisor
The IDB Cultural Center
Félix Angel, DirectorSoledad Guerra, Assistant CoordinatorAnne Vena, Inter-American Concert, Lecture and Film Series CoordinatorElba Agusti, Cultural Development CoordinatorDebbie Corrie, Art Collection Management and Conservation Assistant
Exhibition Committee
Félix Angel, Director and Curator, IDB Cultural CenterElba Agusti, Cultural Development Coordinator, IDB Cultural CenterJacqueline Mazza, Senior Social Development Specialist, IDB Social Protection
and Health DivisionEleanor Sohnen, Consultant, IDB Social Protection and Health Division
Catalogue Design
Joe García, Fernando Ronzoni
MULTILATERAL INVESTMENT FUNDTel. (202) 942-8211 – Fax (202) 942-8100www.iadb.org/mif/index.cfme-mail: [email protected]
INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANKSOCIAL SECTOR DEPARTMENTwww.iadb.org
IDB CULTURAL CENTERTel. (202) 623-3774 – Fax (202) 623-3192www.iadb.org/culturale-mail: [email protected]
Inter-American Development Bank Atrium1300New York Avenue, N.W.Washington D.C. 20577Monday, June 9 to Friday, June 13, 20089 a.m. to 5 p.m.
