Roosevelt Avenue: Contested Terrain, Neighborhood Center, or Border?
Attention-grabbing signage that hangs in front of Immigrant Movement International
- Immigrant Movement International is a five-year initiative aimed at “…defin[ing] the immigrant as a unique, new global citizen in a post-national world…” (Queens Museum of Art)
- Artist Tania Bruguera, creator of Immigrant Movement International, comingles contemporary sociopolitical issues with art to create pieces that speak to the community in which it is created, while simultaneously transcending political and geographical boundaries.
Tania Bruguera, Creator of Immigrant Movement International
- For its first year, Immigrant Movement International is based on Roosevelt Avenue, the shared avenue between Corona and Jackson Heights.
- Tania Brugera, in partnership with and partially funded by the QMA and CreativeTime, has noticed that immigrants worldwide face a common issue: lack of political recognition and representation
- In some countries, creating a political party is relatively straightforward; however, in the U.S., the two-party system dominates.
- Consequently, other mechanisms of immigrant political representation must be forged—one such mechanism has been found in Immigrant Movement International.
- This initiative provides a safe and welcoming environment for the residents of Jackson Heights and Corona to congregate in—Immigrant Movement International offers services that are often inaccessible to immigrants, due to either monetary restraints or lack of documentation—such as free legal advice.
Guidelines for Tania Bruguera’s Arte Util, or Useful Art, that explain how art is to be used in a manner that is of service to a community
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