SAN JOSE, California (July 6, 2016)— The San Jose Museum of Art will say farewell to the nationally acclaimed exhibition Border Cantos: Richard Misrach | Guillermo Galindo at a Third Thursday “closing party” on Thursday, July 21, from 7 to 10 PM. The evening will celebrate the 41 Bay Area organizations that have collaborated with SJMA to present programs and resources related to immigration, migration, and identity in connection with the exhibition. In his final concert of the exhibition, composer Guillermo Galindo will perform in the museum’s Central Skylight Gallery at 7 PM. At 8 PM, photographer Richard Misrach will sign copies of the catalogue for Border Cantos, which is available for purchase in the Museum Store. The evening will also include a performance by Opera Cultura at 8 PM, an outdoor video performance by artists Robin Lasser and G. Craig Hobbs at 9 PM and a showcase of partner organizations. Food, soft drinks, and alcholoic beverages will be available for purchase at Café Too. Tickets are $5 (free for members) and are available online at SanJoseMuseumofArt.org/calendar.
Border Cantos: Richard Misrach | Guillermo Galindo, on view at SJMA through Sunday, July 31, 2016, is a cross-disciplinary exploration of the U.S.-Mexico border developed collaboratively by photographer Richard Misrach and experimental composer Guillermo Galindo. The exhibition features monumental landscapes by Misrach and hand-crafted musical instruments created by Galindo from found objects recovered at the border—a shoe, a water bottle, a backpack. Border Cantos offers new avenues for approaching heated political issues around immigration, border security, and immigration reform, and a poetic response to the oftentimes polarizing discussions around these issues.
Galindo’s performance on July 21 will feature the massive instrument Ángel Exterminador (Exterminating Angel), 2015, on view in SJMA’s Central Skylight Gallery. The nine-foot-tall sculptural piece is constructed from a found corrugated steel section of the border wall, found Border Patrol drag chain, and found border wall wood blockings. It is played with a mallet like a gong. Galindo will be joined by fellow musicians Paula Cekola, Joel Davel, and Tom Dambly.
Opera Cultura participated in the Border Cantos collaboration and presented the opera Rio de Mujeres/River of Women at the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza in May. At the closing party, Opera Cultura will present Cuentos & Zarzuela Remix by Hector Armienta, performed by vocalist Alexandra Sessler and pianist Temirzhan Yerzhanov.
Migration Stories: The Distance From Me to You is an outdoor video event. Artists Robin Lasser and G. Craig Hobbs connect regional experiences of immigration with stories from around the world. The performance will feature outdoor video-mapped projections onto the facade of the San Jose Museum of Art. Imagery includes portraits of 15 immigration stories as told by Bay Area residents representing 12 different countries, including stories from San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Watsonville, and Berkeley. Migratory Cultures is presented by Pajaro Valley Arts, which offered the exhibition Immigration: Borders, Boundaries, Beginnings in connection with Border Cantos.
Other Border Cantos partners will host informational tables and presentations throughout the evening.
BORDER CANTOS PARTNERS
Forty-one organizations throughout the Bay Area have collaborated to present programs and resources in connection to Border Cantos in 2016. Programs included art exhibitions and public art, theatrical and musical performances, writing and poetry projects, lectures and panel discussions, films, community festivals, and immigration resource fairs. Participating organizations are: Asian Law Alliance; Asian Pacific Fund; Cabrillo College Puente Project; Children’s Discovery Museum; City Arts and Lectures; City Lights Theater Company; City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs; Consolado de México en San José; de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University; Exploratorium; Friends of Hue Foundation/Ao Dai Festival; FWD.us and Welcome.us; The Gallery at the Carmen Castellano Fine Arts Center at San José City College; History San José; International Rescue Committee; Japanese American Museum of San Jose; Licencias.us; MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana; Montalvo Arts Center; Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz; New Museum of Los Gatos (NUMU); Opera Cultura; Pajaro Valley Arts; Pangea Legal Services; Poetry Center San Jose; San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA); San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles; San Jose Public Library; San Jose Stage Company (in partnership with El Teatro Campesino); School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza; Somos Mayfair; Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History; Tadaima Project; Teatro Visión de San José; The Tech Museum of Innovation; University of Santa Cruz/Chicano Research Center; Veggielution; Works San Jose; and ZERO1.
Border Cantos: Richard Misrach | Guillermo Galindo is made possible in part by grants from the Walter and Karla Goldschmidt Foundation; Yellow Chair Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Creative Work Fund, a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund that also is generously supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Packard Foundation; and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Additional support is generously provided by Claudia and Sven Weber, Evelyn and Rick Neely, and the Consulado de México en San José.
SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART
The San Jose Museum of Art celebrates new ideas, stimulates creativity, and inspires connection with every visit. Welcoming and thought-provoking, the Museum rejects stuffiness and delights visitors with its surprising and playful perspective on the art and artists of our time. SJMA is located at 110 South Market Street in downtown San Jose, California. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM and until 8 PM or later on the third Thursday of each month. For more information, call 408-271-6840 or visit www.SanJoseMuseumofArt.org.
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Programs at the San Jose Museum of Art are made possible be generous support from The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, The Lipman Family Foundation, and a Cultural Affairs Grant from the City of San José.