Written by Rae Quinn
The works of established and emerging contemporary photographers from across the U.S. exhibited together in You Belong Here address Latinx visibility and belonging through depictions of home, community, and the literal or figurative state of “in-between.”
The Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin in Madison presents You Belong Here: Place, People, and Purpose in Latinx Photography, curated by Pilar Tompkins Rivas, the Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Curatorial and Collections at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. The exhibition emerged from Tompkins Rivas’s work as the guest editor on the Winter 2021 Latinx issue of Aperture Magazine.
“Nepantla” is a Nahuatl word meaning the space between two bodies of water or “in the middle.” In contemporary use it often refers to the concept of “in-betweenness,” applied to communities with postcolonial, transnational, and multiracial identities. The photographs in You Belong Here make visible the vibrant cultures and identities that emerge as a result of social and philosophical issues for those living in this state of in-between. The artists touch on marginalization, colonialism, and gentrification, as well as community resilience, collective joy, and deep connections to place and tradition.
Read more in Musée Magazine.
Image: Star Montana, Louisa, Cathy and Little Star, 2021.
