
Global migration patterns are covered daily in the news due to the political and social conflict that arises when people from “elsewhere” attempt to move due to war, effects of climate change, religious persecution, cultural intolerance, colonialism, gender inequality or poverty, then resettle in a new place to experience personal safety and freedom. Over the last several years, migration has become ever more fraught with tension between those who support humanitarian efforts and those who view these people on the move as invaders.
Artists, museums and galleries provide an opportunity for audiences to experience through artists’ expression the myriad psychological and social manifestations that evidence the internal struggles of people on the move. Beyond these struggles, these contemporary artists reimagine the personal meaning of migration of generations before them and the lasting legacy that dislocation has left for them to interpret. In recent years, many major museums have mounted exhibitions devoted to migration and the artists who have found creative expression in defining dislocation and the absence of home.
The seven international artists in the current exhibition, “Here Now: Art and Migration,” at Burlington City Arts (BCA), explore the internal and external conflicts that define identity for people who by necessity must move from what has always been home to someplace new, where they must transition from an identity of displacement to finding a sense of place, often in a new language and alien cultural norms.