In 2014, more than 68,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended on the U.S./Mexico border, double the number from the previous year. Of this group, the majority are from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Known as the Northern Triangle, this region has a long and complicated relationship with the United States. Civil wars in the 1980s, deportation policies, the drug war, border issues, trade agreements, unjust economic structures, political corruption, poverty, human trafficking, and many other situations have all contributed.
Northern Triangle is a traveling exhibition organized by Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, TX. Exhibition support provided by the City of San Antonio's Department for Culture and Creative Development.
The presentation at KAM is sponsored in part by Frances P. Rohlen Visiting Artists Fund/College of Fine + Applied Arts, the Art + Design Visiting Artist Series, La Casa Cultural Latina, Department of Anthropology, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH), and the University YMCA. Borderland Collective Artist Residency is paid in part by the Student Cultural Program Fee.
Ricker Library of Architecture and Art has developed a library guide with details about this exhibition, as well as supplementary materials and curator-recommended readings: Library Guide for Bordeland Collective: Northern Triangle
Northern Triangle is an installation by Borderland Collective, led by artists Jason Reed and Mark Menjivar and art historian Erina Duganne.
In addition to the contributions of Menjivar, Reed, and Duganne, the exhibition includes works by Adriana Corral, Vincent Valdez, and Ricky Yanas as well as historical documents from the Library of Congress, the National Archives, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, The South Texas Human Rights Center, and the personal archives of Stacey Merkt and Jack Elder.
Northern Triangle aims to open spaces for constructive and ongoing dialogues and exchanges around art, migration, and human rights. At Krannert Art Museum, the exhibition will be a venue for gallery talks, classroom and community meetings, a three-day residency with members of Borderland Collective, and other collaborations with campus and city partners in Champaign-Urbana.
Exhibition conceived and curated by Borderland Collective
Local curatorial oversight by Amy L. Powell, curator of Modern and Contemporary art
