Start your Gallery Walk at The Center! Join us at 6pm to hear from participating artist Angie Smith about her work photographing Boise’s refugee community for The New York Times Magazine! Prompted by current global and local conversations about refugees and immigration, This Land Is Whose Land? explores these timely topics in the context of the United States’ history as place of resettlement and contested (and sometimes contentious) claims over land. This BIG IDEA project challenges us with difficult questions: What role should the U.S. play in resettling refugees? What responsibilities do we have as a nation? What are the risks and rewards of welcoming refugees to our communities? The Center’s exhibition for This Land Is Whose Land? features works by artists who consider the history of refugees in the U.S. as well as the broader contemporary refugee crisis. Stay after the tour to see The Resettled, a 30-minute film focusing on refugee stories from around the U.S., including a refugee in Boise who observes, “I was not born a refugee, I was made one.” The Resettled film synopsis The United States of America was built by immigrants and refugees, but are we still eager to put out the welcome mat for strangers from a distant land? The Resettled presents the dramatic stories of refugees who have resettled in the USA, and the challenges they continue to face daily. From San Francisco to Detroit, Idaho to New York, this short film introduces refugees from Iraq, Burma, Vietnam, Congo, and Liberia, and reveals how they’re adjusting to their new lives in a new land. Part of The Center’s BIG IDEA project This Land is Whose Land?, Jan 26–Mar 31, 2018.
