Borders Cruzadas
A Collaborative Story
About the Project
At present, there are more than 117 million displaced persons around the world. In recent years, the US Southern border has experienced a surge of migrants fleeing increased violence and economic crisis in Haiti, Venezuela, and across Central and South America. In 2020, title 42 was reactivated restricting immigration at land borders in an effort to curb the spread of infectious disease amid the pandemic. As a result, border authorities expanded deportations and access restrictions, leading to record numbers of migrants and asylum seekers to be forcefully removed from the US or held in legal stasis. With humanitarian exemption granted to some, but not all, the policy has caused unprecedented pressure on not only the US borders but legal systems and ultimately those making arduous and often dangerous journeys for their human right to safety and a better life.
Recent events, including a fatal fire killing at least 39 migrants at a detention center in Juarez, have demonstrated how dangerous the journey has become and has exacerbated socio-political and geopolitical confrontations in the US and Mexico. The scale of the crisis has also caused it to become increasingly abstract in contemporary discourse, serving more as a tool for hard-line immigration and xenophobic political campaigns than reflective of the personal lives and stories of those who take on this journey.
Drawing from his personal ties and documentary exploration of ongoing crises in his home country of Venezuela, Oscar B. Castillo in partnership with Wil Sands, spent months documenting and collaborating with migrants in Mexico and at the US border. BordersCruzadas is the result of shared efforts to present a visual, evidentiary case for urgent, effective and coordinated public policy and humanitarian aid of the globally displaced. A preview of this project is currently on view at the AWP Gallery, with the expanded exhibition on view in The Hague in June 2023.
about the artists
Public Programs
On June 20, World Refugee Day, we celebrated the 2023-24 Dammeyer Exhibition launch for Borders Cruzadas: A Collaborative Exploration of Migration at the Glass Curtain Gallery at Columbia College Chicago. Borders Cruzadas is a long-term visual narrative project by photojournalists Oscar B. Castillo and Wil Sands, recipients of the 2023-24 Dammeyer Fellowship for Photographic Arts and Social Issues. Presented in partnership with ART WORKS Projects, Columbia College Chicago’s Photography Department, and Centro Romero, the opening program included an artists’ talk led by Steve Bynum, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) manager for Chicago Public Media, and AWP Board Member. Reflecting on his impression of the exhibition, Bynum opened with the remarks, “When I saw the exhibition, it was like a gut punch…in a good way.” He likened this feeling to splagchnizomai − stemming from Biblical Greek − which means to be moved in the inward parts, i.e. to feel compassion.
View the recording of the conversation between Bynum, Castillo and Sands here.
Join ART WORKS Projects for a final tour, lunch and zine-making workshop before the Borders Cruzadas exhibition closes on August 9.
Over the course of July, AWP has been hosting summer campers from across 10 Chicago Parks District sites for arts engagement workshops based on the exhibition. Through guided gallery walks and activities, our summer campers reimagined individual stories of migration and discussed how the experiences of people on the move reflect on their own lives.
During our time together, campers had the opportunity to create their own zine by combining drawings and collage to make foldable booklets showcasing a journey they’ve taken. Our campers have shared journey stories to the beach, ancestral and family journeys, and even emotional journeys of how we change over time.
AWP is pleased to debut Borders Cruzadas: A Welcoming Place as part of diversión, a curatorial intervention at Marquette Park.
This outdoor installation kicks-off our public engagement campaign leveraging the universal power of photography and storytelling to foster a more inclusive discourse on immigration. Through a series of photographs by Oscar B. Castillo and Wil Sands, the installations demonstrate how small acts of welcome can turn urban spaces into refuges of hope and belonging
Location: Marquette Park
Dates: September 20 – November 1
View this exhibit
View a video recap of Borders Cruzadas at the Glass Curtain Gallery, in collaboration with the Pueblo Unido Gallery and Centro Romero.
resources & tools
News
While working on the Borders Cruzadas project, Oscar B. Castillo published two articles, “Migrants Risk it all on ‘La Bestia,’” in the New York Times and “A Venezuelan Family’s Three-Thousand-Mile Journey to New York” in the New Yorker.
Stats
March 2023 saw a 25% increase in the number of migrants who were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico Border. This is consistent with a historical pattern of increased migration in the spring months.
Resources
The expansion of US Title 42 has led to the expulsion of thousands of migrants from the country, Hope Border Institute published a report from interviews with 43 such migrants to understand the impacts and provide a personal lens into this policy
support for this project
Project Partners
BordersCruzadas is an ongoing and collaborative project that will be expanded into a participatory program involving community engagement, workshops, and more. Please consider making a contribution towards a matching grant challenge to unlock $10,000 towards this project.
