A VISUAL TRANSLATION OF IMMIGRATION DETENTION

March 24-26, 10:00am - 7:00pm

ZIDELL YARDS, 3121 S. Moody Ave

The United States has the largest immigration detention system in the world. What does it actually look like and how does it impact individuals, families and communities across the US?

Ten extensive road trips across the US from 2017-2022. Over 30,000 miles in 25 different states. 150 hours of interviews.

This series of 2-3 day long, pop up exhibitions...utilizing a 26ft-long truck... provides a new visual translation of what immigration detention looks like in the US and uses storytelling and first-person testimony so people can share in their own words the impact immigration detention has had on their lives.

The walls on the inside of the truck will be transformed into a gallery space and will feature photographs and stories of trauma and resilience, fear and separation as well as resistance and solidarity. In addition, a 24ft-long visual map consisting of photographs and data of nearly 60 detention centers across the US will show the geography of this extensive immigration detention system. Audio points in the map share the voices of individuals talking about immigration detention in the US. These ‘voices’ are of people formerly detained and people who have been detained and then deported, along with family members, immigration lawyers and individuals working as volunteers in visitation programs or detention hotlines. The outside of the truck will be used to display photographs and show a projection of images each evening.

Like the print initiative from this project, Seven Doors Journal and the 3-part online photo-testimonial essays, American Gulag, this series of exhibitions aims to serve as another creative outlet and platform for this work and these stories to reach a wider audience. It hopes to create a space where people can have a deeper understanding of this issue, a more personal insight into the shared experiences of asylum seekers and the undocumented across the US and be more informed of the interconnectedness of the immigration detention system and the consequences immigration detention has on families and communities.