Lukas Avendaño remembers reading a book when he was a 15-year-old, growing up in Oaxaca, about a train that blew through Tucson and Phoenix on its way from Mexico.
More than 15 years later, the performance artist is in Phoenix for the first time, and says the environment couldn't be more different than what he imagined.
Avendaño packed his bags in the beginning of summer and took to the road with 11 contemporary Mexican artists who aim to share their own perspective and host an open dialogue about border issues between their hometowns in Mexico and cities in Arizona.
Tonight, these artists will perform and showcase their work, collectively called Arizona Between Nosotros, at ALAC's 147 Gallery and will host a discussion panel tomorrow.
Arizona Between Nosotros (or "Arizona Between Us") is a name that comes from the bad reputation and connotation Arizona and
its residents now carry as a result of the debate around illegal
immigration and SB1070.
The video and performance work was selected and curated by six
Arizona-based artists who wanted to give voice to a new perspective in
the immigration and border debate -- the voice across the border.
Last night, Avenda
"I
don't want [audience members] to just watch, or to just listen, or to
just be thinking," he says. "I hope that they open themselves
to what's happening."
The artists will perform throughout the night, from 7 to 10 p.m., and
gallery visitors are encouraged to watch videos projected on the gallery
walls and performances throughout the space, as well as to interact
with the program's artists and curators.
"It's a better idea to get to know each other and get to know each other
as brothers and sisters," he says. "And I think that if people allow
themselves to be touched, that their construction of the 'other' would
turn for the good."
