Hostile Terrain 94

HOSTILE TERRAIN 94: A MOMENT OF GLOBAL REMEMBRANCE AT MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE

Thousands of people have died and disappeared while crossing the U.S./Mexico border since the mid-1990’s. This tragic loss of life is the direct result of the U.S. border enforcement policy known as Prevention Through Deterrence. These lives are being memorialized through the global participatory exhibitionHostile Terrain 94(HT94) that will launch in late 2020 through the fall of 2021 in 130+ locations on six continents. HT94 is organized by theUndocumented Migration Project, a non-profit research-arts-education collective dedicated to raising awareness about migration issues around the globe. 

During this time of social distancing caused by COVID-19, we are seeking ways to safely engage with those who are committed to keeping remembering the thousands of people who have died and disappeared along the U.S./Mexico border in search of a better life. We are asking people to film themselves reading the name of a person who has died crossing the U.S./Mexico border in Southern Arizona, along with the details of that person’s death. We understand it may be difficult to speak these things out loud, but we hope this can be a way for people to both bear witness to the harsh realities of U.S. Border Patrol policies and keep the memories alive of the thousands who have died in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Through this digital participatory event, communities from around the world will be able to come together virtually in a global moment of reflection.

As a partner institution, Middlebury College will join in this global effort by staging its own digital global remembrance exhibit on campus this fall. Our goal is to capture individual voices reading out loud the names of the dead who are memorialized in HT94. We will compile these recordings into a single public video and also feature individual videos on our social media platforms.  These videos will visually and aurally speak to the immense loss of life that has been caused by America’s border enforcement policies. Please consider joining us in this powerful moment of witnessing.