CURRENTS

“Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks and Pathways” group exhibition
ICA MECA, Portland, ME
2018

 

CURRENTS
158” x 120” thread, sand, graphite on duralar

CURRENTS presents a cartographic overview of the flow of global migration. Interconnected pathways trace movement within countries, across borders and continents. The scope of geopolitical turmoil is made visible by the massive number of migration routes. Forced global migration is estimated at 68.5 million (2018) and the internally displaced at over 40 million. A person is displaced every second.
Black circles mark countries of departure and countries of arrival. Red threads trace transitional ties from a place of origin in search of new havens. Along the bottom, like a ticker tape, the artist  numbers an individual rather than a broad estimate. In the process, each number took longer to write than for a person to be displaced.
In these harrowing journeys, temporary shelters are erected and stories unfold of lives indefinitely suspended. In the words of Valeria Luiselli, ‘Numbers and maps tell horror stories, but the stories of deepest horror are perhaps those for which there are no numbers, no maps, no possible accountability, no words ever written or spoken.”

Making Migration Visible: Traces, Tracks and Pathways
ICA MECA Portland Maine
October 5 to December 14, 2018
Curated by Julie Santos Pores and Catherine Besteman

Global Migration Routes
30” x 20”
gold ink, graphite on duralar