The Borderlands Theater is uniquely Tucson. In its 21st year, the non-profit organization is fast becoming a theater company known for its education and production of theater involving the diversity of southwest influences. After an eight page spread in American Theater Magazine, which, for those non-theater enthusiasts is like the Rolling Stone for music snobs or The Economist for business men, The Borderlands Theater is on the map for progressive theater companies across the country. Although their focus is mostly on Chicano related issues, they also have crossover coverage of the LGBT community and are considered an activist theater. Their body of work for this season includes "A Visitor's Guide to Arivaca," which examines the lives of those whose situation interacts with the border, "Gaytino!" a musical comedy of a man's journey in the 60s and 70s from Hollywood, to New York and back including Chicano history and the gay experience and "A Tucson Pastorela," the story of the birth of baby Jesus written by one of the theater's own employees. Their upcoming production running April 5th through the 22nd is "Hippie Mexicana" a world premiere comedy of a family who finds an unexpected archaeological site in their family's old home. However, their next performance will be a staged reading where actors will read potential plays for The Borderlands Theater in front of a live audience with minimal stage movement and sets.
The Borderlands Theater represents something that is needed in the southwest region and especially in Tucson. Even in an artist driven community like Tucson, The Borderlands Theater stands out for its unique portrayals of Hispanic culture, people and issues. It is important to have an artistic outlet for Latinos as well as have a venue devoted to socially challenging works.
But perhaps one of the most notable aspects of The Borderland Theater's work is not their commendable theatrical performances or their innovative choices of work, but rather their education outreach program. The purpose is to serve the community and youth in providing them with special performances, audience talkbacks as well as a partnership with The University of Arizona College of Humanities to provide students with well researched study guides. The Borderlands Theater is doing everything right to serve a Hispanic dominate community in Tucson.
The Borderlands Theater office is located at
Centro Cultural
de las Americanas
40 W. Broadway Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85701
Box Office Phone: (520) 882-7406
Fax: (520) 884-4264
Check out http://www.borderlandstheater.org/ for more information
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Picture Perfect Polarization
It seems to me there is no resolution in sight for our border issues. I find the more I read, the less I understand and the more I search for answers, the more complicated the issues become. I don't see these issues as black and white as the sides have seemed to divide themselves. There is more to these issues than aligning with the philosophies of the Minutemen or tree hugging liberals. And so I felt at a loss. In an attempt to spark my interest in writing about this topic , I decided to turn to the arts for inspiration.
A good artist friend of mine, whose opinion on anything artistically related I value strongly, told me about a photography exhibit at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art called The Border Film Project/El proyecto fronterizofotografico. The exhibit was created by three men in an attempt to show the disparity among the two perspectives on the border issues; those of the Minutemen and the migrants. They gave disposable cameras to various groups of Minutemen and migrants and instructions on how to mail the cameras back to the creators. The results? A compilation of over 2,000 truly realistic portrayal of the ongoings at the Arizona/Mexico border that is like nothing I have seen.
The exhibit is set in a room of dark gray painted walls, which is in stark contrast to the walls of exhibit itself of a matte white. Snap shot size photographs, with a few larger versions, scatter the walls of the enclosure, in the style of a family photo album. This is almost essentially what the exhibit is, except the different points of view become so glaringly obvious even without the use of captions or titles. The center of the exhibit is a walled off space that runs a short film about the project, showing the creators explaining in both English and Spanish, what they were asking of the camera holders.
What is so mesmerizing about the photos are their honesty. Some of the photographs are of remarkably high quality and it would be difficult to say whether or not they were professionally taken. They are varied, ranging from photographs of a pair of grotesquely blistered feet, a man jumping a border wall, joyous group snapshots, and portraits of the camping life of the Minutemen. The simplicity of the exhibit and the photographs themselves tell an objective story like nothing else you'll get from the media or professional artists. There is no agenda, it is just simple, visual documentation that may not shed any light on issues up for debate, but offer an honest portrayal of real stories.
The exhibit is located at SMOCA at
A good artist friend of mine, whose opinion on anything artistically related I value strongly, told me about a photography exhibit at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art called The Border Film Project/El proyecto fronterizofotografico. The exhibit was created by three men in an attempt to show the disparity among the two perspectives on the border issues; those of the Minutemen and the migrants. They gave disposable cameras to various groups of Minutemen and migrants and instructions on how to mail the cameras back to the creators. The results? A compilation of over 2,000 truly realistic portrayal of the ongoings at the Arizona/Mexico border that is like nothing I have seen.
The exhibit is set in a room of dark gray painted walls, which is in stark contrast to the walls of exhibit itself of a matte white. Snap shot size photographs, with a few larger versions, scatter the walls of the enclosure, in the style of a family photo album. This is almost essentially what the exhibit is, except the different points of view become so glaringly obvious even without the use of captions or titles. The center of the exhibit is a walled off space that runs a short film about the project, showing the creators explaining in both English and Spanish, what they were asking of the camera holders.
What is so mesmerizing about the photos are their honesty. Some of the photographs are of remarkably high quality and it would be difficult to say whether or not they were professionally taken. They are varied, ranging from photographs of a pair of grotesquely blistered feet, a man jumping a border wall, joyous group snapshots, and portraits of the camping life of the Minutemen. The simplicity of the exhibit and the photographs themselves tell an objective story like nothing else you'll get from the media or professional artists. There is no agenda, it is just simple, visual documentation that may not shed any light on issues up for debate, but offer an honest portrayal of real stories.
The exhibit is located at SMOCA at
7374 East Second Street
Scottsdale , AZ 85251
Phone: 480-994-ARTS
Email: smoca@sccarts.org
Web: www.smoca.org
The exhibit runs through Sunday January, 28.
For an interview on KJZZ, NPR News Station, go to http://kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200609/borderfilm
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