Author: Ashley Cartagena

Hamsa (2016)

“Hamsa is a documentary and educational platform with an audacious goal: motivate viewers to alleviate the Syrian refugee crisis. The short documentary highlights one family’s struggles after reaching Germany, and allows those watching to put a face to the global issues. Hamsa is a Syrian refugee and mother of three who migrated with her husband from …

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A New Documentary Takes us Inside Australia’s Refugee Detainment Camps

“Over the last few years, the Australian government has been leaning hard into an anti-refugee plan known as “the Pacific Solution.” Created to stop the arrival of boats filled with asylum seekers from countries like Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, the Pacific Solution is a program that reads like something out of Donald Trump’s playbook: …

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What the Refugee Crisis tells us about Journalism

“Take any crisis that makes the headlines — the flow of refugees in the Middle East, Europe and the Horn of Africa; outbreaks of deadly or devastating viruses such as Ebola or Zika; drought emergencies in Ethiopiaand Malawi. Does journalism help to explain them? Or solve them? These questions were asked at the Polis conference of the London School of Economics on 21 April. The …

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Caitlin Moran asks “What is a Refugee?”

Journalist and author Caitlin Moran recently took to her YouTube channel, Caitlin’s Moranifesto, to ask the questions “What is a Refugee?” and “Why should we be supporting them?” “Refugees,” Moran says, “are also preventing themselves from being weaponised in the future. How many people who can’t leave Syria and Afghanistan… will be coerced into joining Isis …

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Light on the Sea

Light on the Sea: One Woman’s Story from the Front Lines of the Refugee Crisis This documentary takes us to the front lines of the world’s refugee crisis as Neda, a Syrian American, helps refugees coming from boats into Lesbos, Greece. No media spin. No politics. Just people who want to live. Credits: Directed and …

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Fashion Photographer Turns Refugee Crisis Into Offensive High-End Fashion Shoot

“Hungarian fashion photographer Norbert Baksa has come under fire for a refugee-themed fashion photo shoot he conceptualized and shot at the Hungarian border. “Der Migrant,” which features models wearing headscarves and designer duds before a backdrop of barbed wire fences, was released on the photographer’s personal website and Twitter account last week to predictably less-than-stellar reviews. …

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Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora

The George Washington University Museum April 16–September 4, 2016 In this juried and invitational exhibition, forty-four artists share personal and universal stories of migration—from historic events that scattered communities across continents to today’s accounts of migrants and refugees adapting to a new homeland. Co-organized with the Studio Art Quilt Associates and with assistance from GW’s Diaspora …

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Songs of the Syrian Refugees

“With his brow furrowed in concentration, Abu Abdullah rhythmically strums his oud, exploring the core of a melancholic melody. Mohamad Isa Almaziodi’s robust and melismatic voice soars above, full of emotional ornamentation – sighing and repeating, rising and falling – until he runs out of breath and the phrase is forced to finish. In his …

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Refugee Family Test

Refugee Action, an organization that “helps refugees who’ve survived some of the world’s worst regimes […] get the basic support they need to live again with dignity,” recently launched an online interactive test to show how policy is impacting families trying to reunite after arriving in the U.K. Click below on the image to take the …

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Journeys: How travelling fruit, ideas and buildings rearrange our environment

Although immigration is a dominant topic in contemporary culture, its discussion is often limited to the human experience, such as the crossing of borders and issues about national identity. The Journeys exhibition at the CCA takes a different perspective: how movements impact on the environment. Examples range from the coconut that can drift freely on …

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The value of immigrants to the UK economy: Sophie Barrett-Brown

Corporate Governance Report interviews international migration expert Sophie Barrett-Brown on the value of immigrants to UK corporations. Immigrants to the UK have received a rush of negative press, confounded by low public support. But how valuable are immigrants to UK corporations, and how easy are they to employ? Corporate Governance Report interviews Sophie Barrett-Brown from …

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America and Australia Rooms

America and Australia Rooms Institute of Migration, Finland Permanent Collection “America Room: What made people to move across the Atlantic Ocean? What was it like to travel a hundred years ago? What was life like in the new home country? What is Finnish American identity today? Completely renewed exhibition about Finns in America shows off the …

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Exhibitions Through 2013

A collection of exhibitions which took place through 2013: The Terminal Live Art Project Mixed Flows in Southern Europe (March 2013) Migration Art Expo Tate London : Migrations (January-August 2012) SHIFT: dialogues of migration in contemporary art (April 2011) They Seek a City: Chicago and the art of Migration (March-June 2013) Belgian migration museum shows how one hop onto …

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On Their Own: British Child Migrants

Museum of Childhood October 2015–June 2016 London From their website: “An exhibition telling the heart-breaking true stories of Britain’s child migrants who were sent to Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries between 1869 and 1970. An estimated 100,000 British children were sent overseas by migration schemes, which were run by a partnership of charities, religious …

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A Migrant’s Tale

From the artist’s website: “In 2008 I was carrying out fieldwork among a group of Egyptian immigrants in Milano, Italy, as part of my MA dissertation. There was a strong visual component to this research, and I took many photographs that I kept showing to my subjects and friends. With one of them, Osama el-Sayed, I …

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One Immigrant’s Story

From The America Media Podcast: “J.P., an undocumented immigrant for most of her life, speaks about why her family moved from South Korea to the United States, the challenges she faced as an undocumented immigrant and how gaining temporary legal status changed her life. She also discusses immigration reform legislation, the subject of this week’s editorial in America.”

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Shelbyville Multimedia: New Neighbors Give Thanks

“Shelbyville Multimedia introduces you to the cast of Welcome to Shelbyville, a handful of straight-talking people in rural Tennessee who are taking immigration into their own hands – by welcoming newcomers. Developed by Active Voice, Shelbyville Multimedia is a platform to promote community-building and harmony between native-born Americans, immigrants and refugees nationwide.  Many of its …

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A Border Crosses

by Paul Kramer, The New Yorker. “The whole point of setting the border between Mexico and the United States at the deepest channel of the Rio Grande was that the river was not supposed to move. That was the thinking in 1848, when, following Mexico’s defeat by the United States and surrender of its vast …

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The Overnighters (2014)

A modern-day Grapes of Wrath, award-winning documentary The Overnighters is an intimate portrait of job-seekers desperately chasing the broken American Dream to the tiny oil boom town of Williston, North Dakota. With the town lacking the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, a local pastor starts the controversial “overnighters” program, allowing down-and-out workers a …

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Interactive learning resource: Language of Belonging (2010)

Language of Belonging is a multi-platform education resource based on the ground breaking Indigenous animation Wadu Matyidi.  Designed specifically for Primary-aged students, this diverse learning program explores Adnyamathanha language, culture, stories and traditions, encouraging students to develop their own portfolio and cultural understanding.  This is an interactive game, based on the Wadu Matyidi animation, exploring the language and …

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The Global Struggle to Respond to the Worst Refugee Crisis in Generations

Eleven million people were uprooted by violence last year, most propelled by conflict in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and Afghanistan. Conflict and extreme poverty have also pushed tens of thousands out of parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Here’s a look at the international response to what has become the worst migration crisis since World War …

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Migration Museums

Migration museums cover human migration in the past, present and future. The current trend in the development of migration museums, named differently worldwide, is an interesting phenomenon, as it may contribute to the creation of a new and multiple identity, at an individual and collective level. The United States with Ellis Island, Australia, Canada, and more recently several European countries —  e.g. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and …

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Migration Museums Directory

Explore museums that feature exhibits on migration before visiting. Australia Immigration Museum Migration Museum, Adelaide Migration Museum New South Wales Migration Heritage Centre Argentina Museo Nacional de la Inmigración (See also: Hotel de Inmigrantes) Museo de la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero Belgium The Red Star Line Museum Brazil Memorial do Imigrante Canada Pier 21 Immigrants to …

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Featured Exhibits

100 Stories of Migration – To learn morevisit their website. Pop-up Migration Museum, in close collaboration with the Glasgow Museums and Glasgow Museums Open Museum service. For more info, clickhere. Series of ads produced by the Migration Museum of South Australia, in 2010, entitled ‘Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives’. Header Image Source: University of Leicester

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Top 10 Films on Immigration

Immigration is one of the more complicated issues facing Americans these days and sadly we don’t see or hear about it very often. Below is a list of 10 great films that explore immigration. Some are more serious documentaries while others are narratives that incorporate some of the more human and historic issues of immigration. …

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“Illegal,” “undocumented,” “unauthorized”: Issue frames and perceptions of immigrants

Source: Journalist’s Resource “Illegal” — the label used by many to describe immigrants who lack official documents — is more and more frequently being swapped out for terms like “undocumented” or “unauthorized.” In April 2013, the Associated Press pledged to purge “illegal” in its style book, reserving the term only as a descriptor for actions, …

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Comparative Pilot Study on Media Coverage of Migration

Can mainstream media be assumed to reflect in a constructive manner upon one of society’s most salient issues – migration? If so, will migration coverage be able to provide a pertinent representation of the particular preoccupations and circumstances that come into play in each country? Moreover, do election campaigns influence media treatment of this sensitive, …

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Democracy in the Age of New Media: A Report on the Media and the Immigration Debate

Source: Brookings The U.S. media have hindered effective policy making on immigration for decades, and their impact has been increasing in recent years as a result of an ongoing evolution in the media industry. Deeply ingrained practices in American journalism have produced a narrative that conditions the public to associate immigration with illegality, crisis, controversy …

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Women’s Labour Migration from Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges

At this briefing, hosted by the International Organization for Migration and the Migration Policy Institute, speakers discuss the critical issues surrounding women’s labour migration in the Asia-Pacific region and the related opportunities and challenges. The event marks the launch of the IOM-MPI Issue in Brief, Women’s Labour Migration from Asia and the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges, …

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Better Work for Immigrants

Tackling Joblessness and Stunted Progression in the European Union This is the second panel from the day-long conference, “Better Work for Immigrants: Tackling Joblessness and Stunted Progression in the European Union,” held in Brussels and organized by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Europe in collaboration with the International Labour Office (ILO) and the European Commission. The …

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“Hello, my name is Yusor Abu-Salha.”

 In May 2014, Yusor Abu-Salha (R)–one of the victims of Tuesday’s shooting in Chapel Hill–recorded a StoryCorps interview with Mussarut Jabeen (L), who was her 3rd grade teacher. In fact, all three of the victims–Yusor, her husband, Deah Barakat, and her sister, Razan Abu-Salha–attended Jabeen’s school. Mussarut Jabeen returned recently to talk about Yusor’s death. …

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Black Lives Matter in Jacob Lawrence’s ‘Migration Series’ at MoMA

The painter’s groundbreaking works trace the journey of African Americans out of the Jim Crow South. Jacob Lawrence was a painter, but he was also a storyteller of the first order. In his 1941 masterwork, “Migration Series,” Lawrence (1917-2000) unspools one of the foundational narratives of the modern United States: the journey undertaken by some …

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On Migration, Identity, and Borders

Gerald Machona is a Zimbabwean born visual artist, whose work engages with issues of migration, deeply investigating the social terrains where identity, space, social hierarchies and memory are constantly being re-constructed and negotiated. Ndiri Barman. “In my work, I have appropriated this masquerade performance strategies, one of which is masking, to negotiate my personal experience …

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Lampedusa Review

a brave excursion into the dark waters of mass migration  Anders Lustgarten’s drama boldly contrasts the lives of a fisherman retrieving the bodies of refugees drowned at sea and a Chinese-British woman who collects debts for a payday loan company British theatre is full of plays about domestic politics. What makes Anders Lustgarten exceptional is …

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No Human Being is Illegal

“Give me your tired, your poor; Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . The enormous disparity between the eloquent promise of the Statue of Liberty and the ongoing attacks against immigrants is enormous.  Immigration to the United States varies broadly—who comes, why, from where, and when is emphasized in posters that speak …

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Undocumented Apparel Series

Julio Salgado’s ‘Undocu-Queers’ poster series provides the name, face, and story of a person at the intersection of two much-commoditized demographics, that of queer and undocumented.  The series, which has shown at galleries across the country, is a way for disenfranchised people to tell their own stories before someone else, ally or otherwise, co-opts them. …

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Barbed Wire Stories

 Inside Witness is a comic drawn and narrated by Stephen and Clio Reese Sady. The setting is a family detention center in Artesia, New Mexico, a place where migrant families are housed while awaiting approval for humanitarian relief claims. The comics combine an eyewitness perspective of a courtroom with the voices of the families. Many families, …

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