Curatorial Statement – Progress
December 27, 2015
What does it cost to make a better life – for yourself, your family, your country?
We have become accustomed to seeing a price tag on everything, but when we deal with choices in our own lives, or the choices we make as a country, this is never the case. And without seeing a sticker price, we often don’t think that there are costs at all.
With the war in Syria triggering a refugee crisis, the news is filled with images of people in boats and politicians making promises. But the real story is that each of the 10 million displaced Syrians is living their own Odyssey, each refugee abandons an entire life to save herself and her family. When she finally arrives in a place of refuge, without language or friends, what life is left to her? El Refugio de Freidel | The Refuge of Freidel follows one Colombian refugee (out of 6 million displaced Colombians) who has stumbled this path to discover that the greater struggle – after the dramatic uncertainty of a dangerous exodus – is to re-invent a meaningful life in a new place.
While Syrians flee war and violence, our country bombs their lands from half a world away and spies on us, its own citizens, to keep us safe. This apparent contradiction is familiar to us: it is the central argument for heightened security and war-making in the post-9/11 decade. Derrida states, “coherence in contradiction expresses the force of a desire.” What I learned from a decade of fear is an act of political resistance, part drama / part meditation on the magical thinking that drives our reactions to crisis, when our imagination is trapped in the conflict between hope and fear. The key to this journey is that we get through every day of our life with the help of a little magical thinking. The issue we avoid is what that costs us, and what it costs other people.
The two shows that Aluna present as part of Progress are our tribute to those who manage to maintain their humanity in challenging times.
-Beatriz Pizano, Artistic Director & Trevor Schwellnus, Artistic Producer