Art As Resistance On The Mexican-American Border

At a press conference in September, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump announced his desire to build a wall comparable to the Great Wall of China along the Mexican-American border. Aptly referred to as the “Greater Wall,” Trump described the endeavor not just as a physical demarcation between the two countries, but as an exhibition of art. Claiming that thousands of artists would be commissioned to work on the wall, Trump declared that the project would be “the biggest and best piece of art ever made about the issues surrounding immigration, or about anything else, for that matter.”

As a highly politicized location, the Mexican- American border is commonly regarded as a physical representation of a polarizing debate over immigration, holding significance for residents within both countries. As presented in media-driven political discourse, the border is often reduced to a spatial representation of unequal power dynamics and contentious policy debates. In a similarly reductive fashion, Trump’s aforementioned proposal of transforming the border into an art exhibition woefully ignores the reality of this 1,989-mile stretch. In actuality, the border has artistic integrity within Mexican and American communities alike that transcends its simplistic mainstream media portrayal. Art along the Mexican-American border reveals the politicization of immigration and other intersectional issues, demonstrating how these concerns affect people living on both sides of the divide.

The Mexican-American border has become a central location for artistic expression that invokes Mexico’s storied history of muralism, which extends to the country’s postrevolutionary period. Starting in the 1920s, there was an emergence of muralist work in Mexico that conveyed social and political messages of the era. Spearheaded by renowned artists like Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, Mexican muralism was a way to express political commentary through publically accessible art. This movement remains influential to this day, as evidenced by the modern day creation of murals both on and off the border that reveal personal reflections on immigration and other social or political concerns.

In the neomuralist movement reflected in art along the border, there has been a shift away from murals commissioned by the government towards art that is created by and for the public. The art along the border is a representation of this current muralism that embraces the modern day street art movement and provokes social commentary through publicly accessible works. The artwork on either side of the border offers a social and political commentary on issues of immigration and individual lives, and seeks to both represent and include the populations that not only are affected by these issues, but also those who physically occupy spaces along the border.

Artwork along the border can serve a dual purpose of not just conveying a political or social message, but also unifying communities through its creation. One such example of this were efforts by people on both sides of the border in 2011 to save a mural painted on the border in Nogales, Arizona. The work in question, Vida y Sueños de la Cañada Perla, is a replica of a 1998 mural by Tzetzal Indians that was created after they declared their allegiance with the Zapatistas, an indigenous revolutionary group. The original 1998 mural featured images of revolutionary figures like Emiliano Zapata and Ricardo Flores Mago and was considered an expression of autonomy and rebellion against the Mexican government. However, shortly after its creation, Mexican troops invaded the village, leading to its destruction.

As a response to the destruction of the original Vida y Sueños de la Cañada Perla, replicas of the mural were created as symbols of solidarity in Barcelona, Madrid, Florence, and Mexico City, among other cities. In 2005, people from Mexico and the United States joined forces to replicate the sixty-foot long mural along the border wall in Nogales. Although the political origins of the mural did not address the same issues found in the modern day debate over immigration, the original intention takes on a new life on the border wall. For example, one part of the mural features the words La tierra es de quien la trabaja, which roughly translates to “The land belongs to those who work it.” While this was originally used in reference to indigenous villagers rebelling against the Mexican government, these words take on new meaning in the context of migrant workers crossing the border.

In 2011, the Nogales replica of Vida y Sueños de la Cañada Perla was threatened with removal when a new barrier replaced the original fence that the mural was created on. However, when it appeared that this mural would be destroyed, people in both Arizona and Mexico worked together to preserve not only this mural, but to save other art and graffiti from the fence. Through a community effort, the mural was saved with the intention of eventually restoring the mural back to the border wall. Because both the creation and preservation of art along the border is a form of resistance and solidarity, these efforts were critical for protecting the integrity of these works as cultural artifacts.

Another border artist, Ana Teresa Fernandez, freely admits, “Political art is a risky business.” Fernandez focuses on the intersection of gender and immigration in her art, purposely creating her work while wearing a dress and heels. Rather than creating a mural in the traditional sense, her project, Borrando la Frontera, focuses on painting the border fence in Playas de Tijuana so that it blends in with the scenery on the adjacent San Diego side. Her art constitutes a form of erasure; rather than accepting the omnipresence of a barrier that symbolizes division and limitation, Fernandez creates her work with the intention of artistically rebelling against the physical and mental boundary.

Work like this demonstrates how issues of gender and immigration at the border are not mutually exclusive and political art can be used to express this critical intersection. This type of border art demonstrates how immigration, like so many issues with pressing political and social effects, is multidimensional. Art, therefore, becomes a way to express issues like gender, which may be marginalized or ignored in mainstream discussions.

It is also important to note that not all art along the border is mural work. Artistic expression in this space takes many forms, including works in mediums of sculpture, spoken word, and performance art. Furthermore, there are recent modernist works that combine technological developments and social messages in order to create unique forms of art.

One example of this type of modern art project is Border Memorial: Frontera de los Muertos. Border Memorial is a smartphone app that uses geospatial software to project images of skeletons at the exact locations of recorded migrant deaths along the border.

Described as “an augmented reality public art project and memorial” by its creators, the smartphone application was created with the intention of reflecting the staggering mortality rate of those who have died attempting to cross the border. The app reflects a staggering mortality rate: according to the U.S. Border Patrol, over 6,000 migrants have died crossing into the United States from Mexico. Furthermore, this statistic only accounts for recorded mortalities, meaning that the number may be higher if it included the unknown number of migrants who lost their lives crossing the border whose deaths were not recorded. This art project is not only a critical way to help people visualize the number of lives lost crossing the border, but also helps impart the gravity of this loss.

While the border so obviously represents divide, the placement of art directly on the barrier represents a form of resistance that reflects the sentiments of those who live in these border spaces. Through the deliberate placement of art on the border, whether as a mural, graffiti, or projection, the border itself becomes a work of art that embodies resistance and unity. Recognizing the border as a piece of art in its own merit, reminds us that this is not just a passive divide, but also a communal space. It would do us all well, politicians and laypeople alike, to remember that the border is more than just a divisive political debate. It is a representation of the politics of the individual, and the lives continually affected and lost on both sides of the border.