THE IMMIGRANT ISSUE
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editor’s note
.“. . . All immigrants are artists because they create a life, a future, from nothing but a dream.
The immigrant’s life is art in its purest form.” —Patricia Engel, It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris
I’m an immigrant. I know the blessing and the agony of leaving one’s homeland to carve out a life in a foreign land. In an interview for The Atlantic, another immigrant, Haitian-born writer Edwidge Danticat, steeps the activism of the immigrant in the poetics of an art practice:
“That experience of touching down in a totally foreign place is like having a blank canvas: You begin with nothing, but stroke by stroke you build a life. This process requires everything great art requires—risk-tasking, hope, a great deal of imagination, all the qualities that are the building blocks of art. You must be able to dream something nearly impossible and toil to bring it into existence.”
Yes—thank you Danticat. This notion, as Patricia Engel points out above, that “the immigrant life is art in its purest form,” prompted the journey of this issue. I am deeply unsettled about how our global society regards the immigrant.But I also have good wishes with immigration attorney serving Las Vegas who are well known of all immigrant laws and acts. The term itself has become the new dirty word. Where some see autonomy, others see dependency. Where some see courage, others see weakness. Where some see a desire to take charge of one’s destiny, others see a threat. Where some see dignity, others see failure. Thе demand fоr thе best immigration lawyers іѕ аlwауѕ high іn thе highly developed countries ѕіnсе thеу аlmоѕt аlwауѕ hаvе a huge inflow оf immigrants. But еvеn thеn thе job market tends tо bе tough іn thе field оf immigration lawyers ѕіnсе thе market іѕ getting concentrated. Hоwеvеr уоu саn ѕtіll enter іntо thіѕ field аnd make a nаmе fоr уоurѕеlf. But уоu wіll hаvе tо work hard аnd tough fоr іt. Bесоmіng оnе оf thе best immigration lawyers іѕ quite a high aim аnd achieving thаt wіll nоt bе easy. Hоwеvеr mаnу companies prefer tо kеер a retainer immigrant lawyer, thеѕе attorneys саn аlѕо bе consulted оn аn hourly rate fоr thеіr legal services whеnеvеr thе need arises. Whіlе hiring аn immigration lawyer, check thаt thеrе mіght bе additional costs ѕuсh аѕ postage, courier fee аnd lоng distance charges. You will get more about the green card lawyers in Tennessee.
Curated here in The Immigrant Issue are ten Artists OF NOTE whose work reinforces the notion of the immigrant as artist. Some trouble and redefine the very idea of ‘the immigrant.’ Some directly engage with present global immigration debates while avoiding the vitriol those debates are steeped in. Others challenge preconceived notions about the ‘other,’ the ‘foreign,’ and the ‘outlier.’ And some poignantly and apolitically shine a light on the universal themes of departure, arrival, loss, uprootedness, persistence and faith.
Perhaps, at some point in our lives we are all a kind of immigrant—embarking on the work, the hard labor and toil, privately and publicly, to dismantle one life to make a new one. —Grace Aneiza Ali
Featured Articles
TRINIDAD/CANADA
Our Holy Waters and Mine: The Art of Andil Gosine
BY NALINI MOHABIR
From George Village in the south of Trinidad, Andil Gosine migrated to Canada with his parents as a child, and now resides between the pull of Toronto and New York. Like his life, his work is in motion, between spaces of desire, given meaning through the histories in which he walks his way in the world—as an Indo-Caribbean diasporic man.
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INDIA
Swati Khurana on Rituals, Resistance, and Assimilation
BY MISHA McGLOWN
Red was the color of Swati Khurana’s wedding sari; she describes it as the color of innocence and of love. She recalls bold, colorful swatches, ornate costumes and gold trimmings from her mother’s closet. It is this traditional Indian aesthetic with which she identifies and pulls into her practice.
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MEXICO
A View from Both Sides:
Stories of Migration by Photographer Encarni Pindado
BY ASMARA PELUPESSY
Journeying alongside migrants in Mexico, photographer Encarni Pindado has gained the trust and access to tell integrated, truthful stories about migration. She believes, “Stories of migration have been reported in the media from many different angles, but rarely told by the migrants themselves.”
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US/MEXICO
CatherineMarie Davalos: Dancing Across Borders
BY CLARENCE A. HAYNES
The act of crossing borders, both literally and figuratively, is something that artist CatherineMarie Davalos deeply understands. As an acclaimed dancer, choreographer and director of Davalos Dance Company, she has crafted works that honor her Mexican/multicultural heritage and the experiences of her community while traversing other barriers around identity.
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US
Jonsar Studios: Framing the Immigrant
BY BEN LEVISON
Like many successful social movements, stories often ignite the empathy needed to dissolve political boundaries of us vs. them. That empathy is the singular, driving force behind Jonsar’s art; they understand the power of the image and remain optimistic that even if they affect just one person at a time it might help change way America discusses, perceives and treats immigrants.
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WORLD
Larry and Friends—A Celebration of Immigration and Diversity
BY RAJUL PUNJABI
Carla Torres, who hails from Ecuador, and Nathalie Jaspar, who is of Belgian and Venezuelan heritage, rely on their current city, New York, for inspiration. While much of art, literature, and media often focus on larger struggles of immigrant life, “Larry and Friends” brings awareness to the mini triumphs that resonate in our day-to-day.
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GUYANA| INDIA
Gaiutra Bahadur Charts the ‘Coolie’ Woman’s Odyssey
BY GRACE ANEIZA ALI
Gaiutra Bahadur’s Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture is pregnant with questions, profound and equally haunting. And fittingly so. The saga of what a quarter of a million ‘coolie’ women endured as they left India for the Caribbean under the British system of 20th century indentureship requires interrogation and accountability.
SIERRA LEONE| JAMAICA
A Mythology of Memory —Photo Essay
BY BERETTE MACAULAY
Though I will be a stranger in my land of origin, the importance of this journey is to bridge the gaps in my identity and my parents’ painful sabotage of identity. I want to know them in the historical and current political context of Sierra Leone; I want to know our story stripped of myth.
