Announcing Moving Walls 25: Another Way Home

September 13, 2018
By Yukiko Yamagata & Siobhan Riordan

From the series “Project Luz” Roberta Chalini is a member of Mujeres en Movimiento, a self-organized group that explores the use of dance, art, ancestral remedies, and civic engagement to empower Latina immigrant women in Corona, Queens. This portrait of Roberta and her cakes was created during a collaborative portraiture workshop. It is a representation of her dream of making cakes for other people coming true. Queens, New York, United States, 2018. © Project Luz
From the series “Project Luz” Valeria Reyes is a member of the group Mujeres en Movimiento, a self-organized group that explores the use of dance, art, ancestral remedies, and civic engagement to empower Latina immigrant women in Corona, Queens. Valeria is an artist and an activist who organized a community garden in her daughter’s school. This portrait of Valeria and her piñatas was created during a collaborative portraiture workshop. Queens, New York, United States, 2018. © Project Luz
From the series “Welcome to Intipucá City” Claudia Rivera, 40 years old, is a doctor. Her family immigrated to the United States in 1983 when she was seven years old to escape the civil war. After living for many years in the United States, she decided to return to El Salvador. Claudia’s hand-drawn family tree includes family members’ names written in red for those living in the United States and in blue for those living in El Salvador. As the drawing indicates, Claudia is the only member of her family still living in El Salvador. San Salvador, El Salvador, September 2017. © Anita Pouchard Serra, Jessica Ávalos & Koral Carballo
From the series “Welcome to Intipucá City” A miniature replica of the Statue of Liberty stands on the front porch of a house belonging to individuals who once lived in the United States and returned to El Salvador: a symbol of the transnational and transcultural identity carried by some Salvadorans in Intipucá after living many years abroad. Intipucá, El Salvador, September 2017. © Anita Pouchard Serra, Jessica Ávalos & Koral Carballo
From the series “The Right to Grow Old” “First as lookouts and later into full-fledged gang members, neighborhood children are groomed young by their brothers, cousins, and neighbors. The slow process of recruitment is only viable as communities have little in the way of alternatives for abandoned youths with nothing to lose.” —Tomas Ayuso San Pedro Sula, Honduras, August 2017. © Tomas Ayuso
From the series “The Right to Grow Old” “Karla wore a hat for her picture. ‘It’s my brother’s, and I want him to see it.’ He had gone missing in Mexico a few weeks prior. It was pained wishful thinking, I thought. We snapped away and had a long chat next to her mother’s comal (“griddle”). Some months later, he would re-emerge and la hermanita (“little sister”) was able to share the picture with her beloved older brother.” —Tomas Ayuso San Pedro Sula, Honduras, April 2018. © Tomas Ayuso
From the series “The Passport” A portrait of Yasmeen, a writer and blogger from Gaza, Palestine, currently living in the United Kingdom. As part of her participation in the project, through an intimate handwritten letter addressed to the artist, Yasmeen describes her thoughts on her experience of seeking shelter in Europe. London, United Kingdom, June 2017. © Thana Faroq
From the series “The Passport” A young girl living in a refugee camp witnesses snowfall for the first time in her life. Utrecht, The Netherlands, December 2017. © Thana Faroq
From the series “Fractured Connections” A Family Reunions Project participant explores the neighborhood where she once lived in Puebla, Mexico. Paterson, New Jersey, United States, 2017. © FRPxTN
From the series “Fractured Connections” Marleny’s grandfather and other family members gather in her grandfather’s house. San Jose, Guatemala, October 2016. Still image taken from the film The Green Room, which was originally produced as part of a private 360 video experience that used virtual reality technology to connect Marleny’s loved ones from across the transnational borders that separate them. © FRPxTN
From the series “Live, Love, Refugee” “There was only grass, but I couldn’t pass it through my throat. Yet I forced myself to swallow in front of the children so they would accept it as food.” —Amenah, 41 years old, Lebanon. © Omar Imam
From the series “Live, Love, Refugee” “I wish to become a dragon and burn the scarves and everything in that tent.” – Kawthar, 16 years old, Lebanon. Kawthar was beaten and raped on her wedding night after being married to a 32-year-old Syrian man from a nearby refugee camp. © Omar Imam
From the series “After Migration” Ousman Pa Manneh, originally from Guinea, is photographed in Rome, Italy, 2018. While enduring another tedious security search, Ousman had looked up ruefully and smiled. “This is the way some of them will always see us,” he remarked. “No matter how beautifully we are dressed, we are considered a threat.” Pa Manneh wears an original design from the fashion line Ikiré Jones by Walé Oyéjidé, a socially aware design company that marries West African aesthetics and textiles with European silhouettes. Using fashion photography and featuring models who are themselves migrants, he aims to elevate and humanize migrants’ stories within visual culture and subvert mainstream media representations. © Neil Watson for Ikiré Jones
From the series “After Migration” James Jean and Patrice Worthy, photographed in New York City, United States, 2016. Although they have made America their home, the new generation reflects their parents’ storied histories through traditional clothing. Jean and Worthy wear original designs from the fashion line Ikiré Jones by Walé Oyéjidé, a socially aware design company that marries West African aesthetics and textiles with European silhouettes. Using fashion photography and featuring models who are themselves migrants, he aims to elevate and humanize migrants’ stories within visual culture and subvert mainstream media representations. © Rog Walker for Ikiré Jones
From the series “Across la Tierra” Part of a triptych titled “Migrant Imaginary” made by Layqa Nuna Yawar during a residency at the Brodsky Center and in collaboration with master printmaker Randy Hemminghaus and master papermaker Anne McKeown. New Jersey, United States, 2018. © Layqa Nuna Yawar
From the series “Across la Tierra” Installation shot of a public mural made by Layqa Nuna Yawar in collaboration with the organization Esperanza Neighborhood Project led by members of the local community. New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States, July 2018. © Tico Photography

The Open Society Documentary Photography Project is proud to mark the 20th anniversary of the Moving Walls exhibition series by announcing Moving Walls 25: Another Way Home.

Another Way Home brings together eight projects led by 13 visionary artists, journalists, and creative technologists who are exploring the topic of migration through documentary practice. These artists reclaim and redefine narratives of refugee and immigrant experiences by focusing on themes of identity, community, and resilience. In addition to being selected for the Another Way Home exhibition, each featured artist will receive a fellowship for work on migration which stands at the intersection of arts, media, documentary, and social change.

The fellows were selected from a pool of over 400 applicants by a panel which included: Rocío Aranda-Alvarado (Ford Foundation), Omar Berrada (Dar al-Ma’mûn), Raquel de Anda (No Longer Empty), Rahima Gambo (visual artist), Pedro Lasch (Duke University), Loira Limbal (Firelight Media), Lekgetho Makola (Market Photo Workshop), Opeyemi Olukemi (POV | AmDoc Interactive), and Open Society Foundations staff Rashida Bumbray (Arts Exchange), Veronika Chatelâin (Documentary Photography Project), Lucretia Keenan (International Migration Initiative), Siobhan Riordan (Documentary Photography Project), Kate Rosin (International Migration Initiative), Alvin Starks (U.S. Programs), and Yukiko Yamagata (Documentary Photography Project).

Alongside recipients of the Magnum Foundation’s Photography in Collaboration: Migration and Religion grant, the selected artists in Moving Walls 25 will participate in a two-day project development lab hosted by the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at Columbia University.

At a time when depictions of migrants across the globe can often be reduced to stereotypes, we are proud to stand with these creative innovators, whose mission is to infuse visual culture and civil society with visceral imaginations that center the lived experiences of migrants, immigrants, and refugees within new narratives of self-determination.

The following are the 2018 Open Society Moving Walls artists:

Sol Aramendi (b. 1968, Argentina; lives in the United States) will exhibit work co-created with community members and workshop participants of her initiative Project Luz, a nomadic space that uses photography as a tool of empowerment for immigrant communities. Her fellowship will support a new project, “The Workers’ Studio,” which will be focused on encouraging immigrant workers and day laborers to organize within economic cooperatives.
Jessica Ávalos (b. 1985; born and lives in El Salvador), Koral Carballo (b. 1987; born and lives in Mexico), and Anita Pouchard Serra (b. 1985, France; lives in Argentina) will exhibit “Welcome to Intipucá City,” which explores the impact of emigration and the cyclical nature of migration on generations of families living in Intipucá, El Salvador. Their fellowship will support the continuation of the project, including three reporting trips, an exhibition, and a book.
Tomas Ayuso (b. 1986, Guatemala; lives in the Americas) will exhibit “The Right to Grow Old,” a long-form project on the causes and consequences of the recent mass migration of Hondurans, focusing especially on migrations to Mexico and the United States. His fellowship will support the completion of production on the project.
FRPxTN will exhibit “Fractured Connections,” an installation of 360 video experiences connecting undocumented families in the United States with their families in Latin America, bringing to light the deeply personal experience of family separation. FRPxTN is a collaboration between the Family Reunions Project and Tierra Narrative, led by collaborators Génesis Mancheren Abaj (b. 1992, Guatemala; lives in the United States), Kenia R. Guillen (b. 1994, El Salvador; lives in the United States), Alvaro Morales (b. 1992, Peru; lives in the United States), and Frisly Soberanis (b. 1993, Guatemala; lives in the United States). Together, the two collectives use virtual reality and new forms of storytelling to connect people in the Central American diaspora to each other and to their homelands. Their fellowship will support their work to bring pop-up installations of “Fractured Connections” to community spaces across New York City, and beyond.
Thana Faroq (b. 1989, Yemen; lives in the Netherlands) will exhibit “The Passport,” a work of personal reportage reflecting on notions of freedom and the struggle to leave a country where violence, war, and aggression are prevalent. Her fellowship will support further work on the project, including a publication, exhibitions, and public programming.
Omar Imam (b. 1979, Syria; lives in the Netherlands) will exhibit “Live, Love, Refugee,” a photographic series created in collaboration with Syrian refugees that employs both surrealism and realism to disrupt recurrent abstract and victimizing representations of migrants and refugees. His fellowship will support production for a new project called “Syrialism,” which explores the visual mood of the Syrian diaspora.
Walé Oyéjidé (b. 1981, born and lives in the United States) will exhibit “After Migration,” a fashion photography portrait series that aims to subvert mainstream media representations by featuring models who are themselves refugees and highlighting designs from Oyejide’s clothing line Ikire Jones, which blends European silhouettes with West African textiles. His fellowship will support continued work on the “After Migration” project.
Layqa Nuna Yawar (b. 1984, Ecuador; lives in the United States) will exhibit “Across la Tierra,” a large-scale painted mural, made in collaboration with the organization United We Dream, which is an example of his practice of raising the voices and stories of underserved communities, migrants, and people of color, through public art and figurative representation. His fellowship will support further work on the project including research, production, and the creation of a virtual reality experience.

Moving Walls 25: Another Way Home will be open to the public at the Open Society Foundations’ office in New York from September 26, 2018, through July 17, 2020.