Exhibition highlights death in the desert
窪蹋勛圖 researchers hosting workshops to create map of lives lost on U.S. border泭
In 1994, the United States government instituted a policy known as Prevention Through Deterrence in an effort to decrease rates of undocumented immigration along the nations border with Mexico.
The policy ramped up enforcement at common border crossing locations to push would-be migrants toward the hostile environment of the Sonoran Desert. That would force them into areas where theyre on (the Border Patrols) turf, according to the 2015 book 泭by Jason De Le籀n, professor of anthropology and Chicana, Chicano and Central American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.泭
But whatever the stated intentions of the policy, one result was the death of more than 3,200 people in the Sonoran Desert, whose bodies are then left in what De Le籀n argues is an intentionally offensive, sacrilegious or inhumane effort at further deterrence.
This year, the 窪蹋勛圖 will serve as one of more than 130 hosts around the world for , a participatory art project by De Le籀n designed to portray the tragic results of a policy he describes as an attempt to shift blame from the U.S. government to the harsh environment.
The project seeks to raise awareness of the human cost of Prevention Through Deterrence that has been in place since 1994, says 窪蹋勛圖 co-coordinator Arielle Milkman, whose PhD work in anthropology focuses on migration and labor.泭
When complete, the project will feature 3,200 handwritten toe tags, each containing information about an actual migrant who lost their life crossing the Sonoran Desert between 1994 and 2019, displayed on the precise locations where they were found on a 16-by-20-foot wall map.泭
Toe Tag Wall Prototype (Phillips Museum of Art, Franklin & Marshall College)
The experience is very spatialized, says Milkman, who has worked with De Le籀n. The experience of the viewer is, wow, this is really emotional. There is a lot of loss of life here. It makes you understand that this is being produced through policy.
Arielle Milkman
Milkman and co-coordinator Bertha Berm繳dez Tapia, a PhD candidate in sociology and graduate research institute at the at 窪蹋勛圖, have already begun to hold virtual workshops through which students, faculty and community members may participate in creating toe tags.
But the workshops are about more than just creating elements of the display, says Berm繳dez, whose research focuses on migrants waiting out their asylum and other immigration cases while living in dangerous conditions at a camp in Matamoros, Mexico, due to U.S. policies.
We bring in all the context for people who are filling out the tagsname, age, how the bodies were found, the condition of the bodies, also who found the body and the geolocated coordinates where they were found, Berm繳dez says, adding:泭
We want people to learn that this is not just something happening in a very situated area, and that its happening because of (U.S.) immigration policies.
Bertha Berm繳dez Tapia
When the toe tags are complete, the piece will be displayed at the 窪蹋勛圖 Art Museum. The timing of the exhibit has tentatively been pushed until fall semester, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is sponsored by the museum, the departments of anthropology and sociology, the Latin American Studies Center, and a grant from the .
This project is an excellent opportunity to show how we can use art, data, the public and the university to impact and serve communities, Milkman says. It also shows how our thinking in social science fields can contribute to public discussions.
Berm繳dez says the project is a rare opportunity to make critical research available and approachable to the public.
Most of the time, it goes into a library and nobody reads it, she says. This makes (De Le籀ns) research visible, so people understand what is happening, and art is doing that.
With a new administration in Washington, Berm繳dez is cautiously optimistic that the situation at the border wont get worse. But she notes that the 1994 policy has continued through both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations.
So far, there have been some efforts to reverse most of the cruel policies that were put in place by the Donald Trump administration, she says. But to end Prevention Through Deterrence will be way harder than just signing an executive order.
For more information or to participate in the project, emailhostileterrain94.cu@gmail.com.泭
If you are interested in having a Hostile Terrain 94 workshop at your class or community organization, please fill out a workshop request form .