Michael Wells, Migrant artifacts. Sonora Desert, Arizona (2010-2013). Photograph.
The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art (MECA) is pleased to announce Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways, an exhibition and collaboration with over 70 community and institutional entities statewide.
Migration, mobility, and displacement is the story of our era. Fears about human mobility and border crossers are reshaping politics; climate change promises to cause massive displacements; global leaders are scrambling to reconfigure and secure borders; people everywhere are moving to find safe lives for their families. The artists in Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways challenge the idea that migration is an exception or a crisis, showing viewers that migration is now the norm, inscribed in our landscapes, memories, bodies, and imaginings. What kind of a world do we want to create in this era of great mobility?
MECA is hosting a one day symposium ART+POLITICS on November 2. The symposium will feature a panel of leaders in the arts community who will speak on the role of art in relation to political dialogue and civic action, a set of breakout workshops, and a keynote address. Registration is free. Seating is limited. RSVP by emailing ica@meca.edu by October 15th.
Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways is organized by Director of Exhibitions, Erin Hutton and co-curated by Julie Poitras Santos and Catherine Besteman. The exhibition is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by a Lunder Foundation Challenge Grant, Maine Arts Commission, Colby College, and private donors.
Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks & Pathways is on view from October 5–December 14, 2018. For more information, visit meca.edu/traces.
