ARRIVAL AND BELONGING

"ARRIVAL AND BELONGING" (2021) IS A TWO-PART PROJECT COMMISSIONED BY THE PHILADELPHIA museum of art AS PART OF THE "NEW GRIT: ART & PHILLY NOW" EXHIBITION. PART ONE OF "ARRIVAL AND BELONGING" IS A LARGE-SCALE MULTISCREEN VIDEO INSTALLATION WITH animation and LIGHTBOXES HIGHLIGHTING THE EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY. PART TWO WAS AN ACTIVATION ON THE GRAND STAIR HALL AT THE MUSEUM. OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS, ORTIZ GATHERED THE STORIES OF FOUR PHILADELPHIANS WHO REPRESENT A WIDE RANGE OF LIVED EXPERIENCES AS IMMIGRANTS AND MIGRANTS: FATU GAYFLOR, A WEST PHILADELPHIAN FROM WORLALA, LIBERIA, WHO FLED THE FIRST LIBERIAN CIVIL WAR; JAMAAL HENDERSON, A RECENT RESIDENT AND A PROMINENT LOCAL ADVOCATE FOR HOUSING RIGHTS FOR THE HOMELESS; CARLOS TORRES, A NORTH PHILADELPHIAN WHO LEFT PUERTO RICO FOLLOWING THE DEVASTATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE; AND EPIFANIA ORTIZ, A SOUTH PHILADELPHIA RESIDENT—AND THE ARTIST’S MOTHER—WHO EMIGRATED FROM COLOMBIA. USING FIRST-PERSON TESTIMONIALS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND PAINTERLY ANIMATIONS, ORTIZ PERSONALIZES THESE FOUR ACCOUNTS AND HUMANIZES THE STRUGGLE AND CHALLENGES OF FINDING HOME.

(PRODUCTION TEAM: JOSE MAZARIEGOS, GRALIN HUGHES, JUSTIN GELLER, DAVE TAVANI, & ALEX SHAW)