Image taken at the Terre Natale project, Cartier Foundation
Human migration is the movement of people from one place in the world to another for the purpose of taking up permanent or semi-permanent residence, usually across a political boundary. Migrations have occurred throughout human history, but they have never been faster and more massive than in this century. Today, over 170 million people live, temporarily or permanently, outside their country of origin, according to United Nations figures.
While some of us deal with the luxury problem of choosing where to live and have the means to exercise that choice, the vast majority of today’s migrants have been forced to migrate. One of the negative effects of globalization is the exclusion of more and more people from meaningful participation in the market economy, and thus the exclusion to have a dignified life. Migration for most migrants is less about seeking a better life than about having life at all, simply seeking survival.
Art as social commentary is a major theme in modern and contemporary art. Artists often assume the roles of reporter and analyst in an exploration of the nature of society. Always at stake is the artist’s wish to uncover the workings of society and draw conclusions for understanding it more effectively. Art that falls within this theme is often critical of political structures seen as harmful, but it also celebrates the achievements of human communities and can poeticize everyday life. Its ultimate ideals are to preserve what is good and to condemn what is threatening in hope of a better society.
We have invited to this blog some artists whose work deals with migration and its impact in the life of all of us. They hope to share with WGA artists and audience their views on this matter. Through their work, they explore how human migration impacts population patterns and characteristics, social, cultural and personal patterns and processes, economies, and physical environments.
Mexican photographer Luis Aguilar presents a series of pictures that show the journey of Central American and Mexican illegal immigrants to the United States. The U.S.–Mexico border has the highest number of both legal and illegal crossings of any land border in the world. Luis Aguilar joined a group of travelers and accompanied them from the south of Mexico to the United States, bravely and masterfully documenting their journey through the country.
As people move, their cultural traits and ideas diffuse along with them, creating, modifying and enriching cultural landscapes. The artist we have invited to present their work in these pages are able to portrait with a critical and skilful eye, the situations that force people to migrate and the way their lives and deaths change our world. We hope that you will be inspired by their work.
