WEBVTT 00:00:07.420 --> 00:00:12.180 [Tania Bruguera: "Immigrant Movement International"] 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:15.460 [Queens, New York] 00:00:31.360 --> 00:00:33.180 [ALIZA NISENBAUM] It was really fun to paint here. 00:00:33.180 --> 00:00:34.000 [Aliza Nisenbaum, Artist] 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.340 I was painting always when there was either a Zumba class 00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:39.840 or a children's orchestra class. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:45.620 There would always be at least four or five little kids around my palette, 00:00:45.629 --> 00:00:47.069 putting their fingers into the paint 00:00:47.069 --> 00:00:50.089 and asking me how to make particular colors 00:00:50.089 --> 00:00:53.809 and seeing the way I put the brush down on the canvas. 00:00:55.540 --> 00:00:57.700 I'm a Mexican, 00:00:57.710 --> 00:01:00.620 and I've become a little bit more of a part of the art world down there, 00:01:00.620 --> 00:01:03.359 and so this has been like a real home for me. 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:08.760 So, yeah, Vero and Marisa are here. 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:10.400 --[NISENBAUM, IN SPANISH] How are you Vero? 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:12.240 --It's been a long time since I saw you last! 00:01:12.240 --> 00:01:14.180 --[VERO, IN SPANISH] Yes, yes. I've missed you too. 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:15.180 --[NISENBAUM, IN SPANISH] Likewise. 00:01:15.180 --> 00:01:17.920 --Hi Marisa! How are you love? 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:18.560 --[MARISA, IN SPANISH] Good. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:20.220 --[NISENBAUM, IN SPANISH] Are you both ready for the party? 00:01:20.230 --> 00:01:22.200 --[VERO, IN SPANISH] Yes, yes. Very, very ready. 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:23.520 [NISENBAUM] I painted Vero twice. 00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:24.940 She was my first model 00:01:24.940 --> 00:01:29.440 and she is the most inspiring person that I met in my class. 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:33.740 [VERO, IN SPANISH] I feel very very proud because 00:01:33.740 --> 00:01:36.320 imagine, I'm in a painting 00:01:36.320 --> 00:01:38.220 me, my husband, and my daughter! 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:41.700 In my mind I thought that in one hour 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:44.560 a painting was completed; but, no, 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:46.540 it's a lot of hours of work. 00:01:47.620 --> 00:01:49.580 I met her here because I took her class 00:01:49.580 --> 00:01:52.260 of learning English through art. 00:01:54.260 --> 00:01:58.400 [NISENBAUM] We were talking a lot about ideas of women--ideas of feminism. 00:01:58.410 --> 00:02:01.030 But, they really didn't use the word 'feminist' 00:02:01.030 --> 00:02:02.640 or it was a little bit shunned or something. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.930 So, we started opening up ideas of what that would mean for different people. 00:02:06.930 --> 00:02:09.450 And so, the idea of sitting face to face, 00:02:09.450 --> 00:02:13.390 it's a very intimate experience having a model and painting them. 00:02:13.390 --> 00:02:16.940 And so, that always makes people open up. 00:02:16.940 --> 00:02:21.819 You're painting every single part of their flesh and their skin, 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:23.600 and the flow and folds of their clothes, 00:02:23.600 --> 00:02:28.960 and so, that immediately is a kind of intimate experience. 00:02:32.200 --> 00:02:35.500 [VERO, IN SPANISH] In Mexico, I studied an Aztec dance. 00:02:36.160 --> 00:02:39.960 My family and I are accustomed to wearing attire 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:42.660 typical of our country. 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:48.300 And the truth is that time I wore a blouse with flowers, 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:50.960 very pretty, with strong colors, 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.140 and now I always see it, I have the painting in my home 00:02:53.140 --> 00:02:54.960 in my living room. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:57.480 Before anything, I give thanks to Aliza. 00:03:01.940 --> 00:03:05.040 [NISENBAUM] A lot of these women are people that hide, in some ways, 00:03:05.040 --> 00:03:06.540 from public view-- 00:03:06.540 --> 00:03:08.250 from being seen-- 00:03:08.250 --> 00:03:10.810 because a lot of them are undocumented immigrants. 00:03:10.810 --> 00:03:15.599 So I was trying to give a sense of agency to the women that were here 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:17.780 in terms of finding their voice, in terms art, 00:03:17.780 --> 00:03:21.520 and in terms of, also, basic English skills. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.580 There's such a rich history of social painting in Mexico. 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:31.380 You know, going back all the way to the muralists, and... 00:03:31.380 --> 00:03:33.720 I think so much more art now has become about 00:03:33.720 --> 00:03:36.650 this social space--social practice. 00:03:36.650 --> 00:03:38.709 [Tania Bruguera; Artist, IMI Initiator] 00:03:38.709 --> 00:03:42.930 It's very important for everyone to know about the poetics of this space. 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:49.680 [BRUGUERA] The people in Immigrant Movement, they are using art to empower themselves. 00:03:50.380 --> 00:03:53.220 So, they have been part of contemporary art as well, 00:03:53.230 --> 00:03:56.390 and they understand now, much better, 00:03:56.390 --> 00:03:57.959 how contemporary art works, 00:03:57.959 --> 00:04:00.859 and everything they can get out of it. 00:04:01.660 --> 00:04:06.460 People can also grow and understand how to work from their fear-- 00:04:07.200 --> 00:04:12.960 with the limitations they have put on themselves once they enter this country. 00:04:14.540 --> 00:04:16.980 [ANA RAMIEREZ] Because we're in a city 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:21.800 that sometimes is somewhat difficult. 00:04:23.780 --> 00:04:27.040 Once a while we all go through difficult moments 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:28.740 in our lives, no? 00:04:32.760 --> 00:04:36.540 For me, being in a ceremony gives me 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:39.280 the strength to go forward day to day. 00:04:39.280 --> 00:04:41.860 So being here, for me, fills me with strength-- 00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:43.520 strength, happiness, 00:04:43.520 --> 00:04:45.760 lots of energy, 00:04:45.760 --> 00:04:49.320 and it gives me pleasure to work together with my family 00:04:49.320 --> 00:04:51.420 of the Tletlpapalotzin group. 00:05:03.980 --> 00:05:08.640 [IMI Community Celebration Day] 00:05:11.960 --> 00:05:15.360 [BRUGUERA] Immigrant Movement is not a finished product yet. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:17.790 All the time that we spend in Immigrant Movement, 00:05:17.790 --> 00:05:21.660 until now, is to prepare the conditions for the project to happen. 00:05:22.420 --> 00:05:25.840 If you ask me who I am, I think I am an idealist 00:05:25.850 --> 00:05:28.710 because I am dying to start a political party, 00:05:28.710 --> 00:05:32.250 because this is what I really wanted to do-- 00:05:32.250 --> 00:05:34.840 to create a political power for immigrants, by immigrants. 00:05:34.840 --> 00:05:37.979 And I know, in the United States, the risk of doing that 00:05:37.979 --> 00:05:40.490 is that it's going to be seen maybe as 00:05:40.490 --> 00:05:45.300 a gesture more than an actual thing that happens. 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:47.080 But we'll see.