Personal Objects of Migration
Personal Objects of Migration
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15 miles north of the United States-Mexico border, a thin man is hunched beneath a hackberry bush in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. He is alone in a barren wilderness, disoriented. After walking for days with a group of ten strangers attempting to make their way from Mexico to the United States, the thin man lay down and fell asleep in the shade of a thorny bush.
When he awoke, the sun was high and the rest of the group was nowhere to be seen. He crawled out from under the bush and called out, with no response. He began walking in the direction he believed the rest of his group had gone. After trying to journey further on foot beneath the beating sun, he was no longer able to continue and found an Ironwood tree to huddle beneath and waited. He waited eight hours until members of a humanitarian group found him faint and dehydrated.
Dressed in worn clothes, with swollen feet and tight shoes, thousands of people attempt to make their way on foot through the desert, carrying with them only what is most critical to complete their journey. These are the personal possessions people have left behind while attempting to make their way from Mexico, across the border to the United States.
These objects represent the danger, courage, and day-to-day struggles of thousands of men, women, and children traveling through this deadly corridor.
Seeking a better life, men, women and children attempt to make their way through the Sonoran Desert, across the border on foot, carrying only what is most essential.
A sneaker wrapped in cloth to disguise footprints.
Plastic water jug wrapped in denim to prevent water from over-heating.
Belt with shovel and bottle for water.
This exhibition was organized in collaboration with Deborah McCullough
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