Alfredo Jaar’s project for inSITE2000 was designed as an ephemeral monument to the memory of migrants who had died from 1990-2000 attempting to “illegally” cross the border between Mexico and the United States. Entitled “La nube”/”The Cloud”, the central component of the work was the release of one thousand white balloons. With the balloons tethered together in the shape of a cloud positioned immediately above the border fence at Valle del Matador/Goat Canyon, not far from Playas de Tijuana, the work took shape as a ceremony that included the performance of classical pieces by Albinoni, Bach, and Veracini, the reading of a poem by Tijuana poet Victor Hugo Limon, and a minute of silence. The balloons were then released and drifted away as symbols of the souls of the dead migrants.
Curators: Susan Buck-Morss, Ivo Mesquita, Osvaldo Sánchez, and Sally Yard
Venue: Valle del Matador/Goat Canyon, Playas de Tijuana
American Friends US/Mexico Border Program
Roberto Martínez – director, American Friends US/Mexico Border Program
Casa de Apoyo al Migrante
Gilberto Martínez – coordinator, Centro de Apoyo al Migrante
Casa de la Madre Assunta
Eduardo Jacobo Rivera – coordinator, Casa de la Madre Assunta
Casa del Migrate
Padre Jesús Olivares – director, Casa del Migrate
Casa YMCA de Menores Migrantes
Madre Gemma Lisot – Casa YMCA de Menores Migrantes
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Claudia Smith – California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Presentations
Uriel González
Fernando Plasencia
Gloria González Santana
XVI Ayuntamiento de Tijuana
Enrique Acosta – Subdirector de Obras y Servicios Públicos Municipales
Sergio Ramírez Cardenas – musical production coordinator, PRODUCCIONES CERCA DEL MAR
Gloria Barajas – PRODUCCIONES CERCA DEL MAR
Karina Beskrovnaia – solo violín
Omar Firestone – solo cello
Pavel Getman – bassoon
Olena Getman – piano
Boris Glouzman – oboe
Wilfredo Terrazas – flute
Oscar Guzmán – sound supervisión
Patricia Higuera
Julio Álvarez
Iván Díaz – production assistant
José Luis Martín – production assistant
Martha Piñeda – production assistant
Rosa Rodríguez – production assistant
Blanca Quiriarte – production assistant
Documentation
Per Sanden
Mark Arbitrario
Elena Bernardi
Beth Bird
Brennan Hubbell
Amy Joergensen
Daniel Martinico
Kirthi Nath
Jee Young Sim
Praneet Soi
Kenny Strickland
Bekkah Walker