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[Tania Bruguera: "Immigrant Movement International"]

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[Queens, New York]

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[ALIZA NISENBAUM] It was really fun to paint here.

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[Aliza Nisenbaum, Artist]

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I was painting always when there was either[br]a Zumba class

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or a children's orchestra class.

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There would always be at least four or five[br]little kids around my palette,

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putting their fingers into the paint

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and asking me how to make particular colors

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and seeing the way I put the brush down on[br]the canvas.

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I'm a Mexican,

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and I've become a little bit more of a part[br]of the art world down there,

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and so this has been like a real home for[br]me.

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So, yeah, Vero and Marisa are here.

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--[NISENBAUM, IN SPANISH] How are you Vero?

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--It's been a long time since I saw you last!

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--[VERO, IN SPANISH] Yes, yes. I've missed[br]you too.

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--[NISENBAUM, IN SPANISH] Likewise.

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--Hi Marisa! How are you love?

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--[MARISA, IN SPANISH] Good.

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--[NISENBAUM, IN SPANISH] Are you both ready[br]for the party?

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--[VERO, IN SPANISH] Yes, yes. Very, very[br]ready.

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[NISENBAUM] I painted Vero twice.

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She was my first model

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and she is the most inspiring person that[br]I met in my class.

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[VERO, IN SPANISH] I feel very very proud[br]because

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imagine, I'm in a painting

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me, my husband, and my daughter!

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In my mind I thought that in one hour

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a painting was completed; but, no,

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it's a lot of hours of work.

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I met her here because I took her class

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of learning English through art.

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[NISENBAUM] We were talking a lot about ideas[br]of women--ideas of feminism.

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But, they really didn't use the word 'feminist'

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or it was a little bit shunned or something.

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So, we started opening up ideas of what that[br]would mean for different people.

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And so, the idea of sitting face to face,

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it's a very intimate experience having a model[br]and painting them.

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And so, that always makes people open up.

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You're painting every single part of their[br]flesh and their skin,

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and the flow and folds of their clothes,

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and so, that immediately is a kind of intimate[br]experience.

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[VERO, IN SPANISH] In Mexico, I studied an[br]Aztec dance.

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My family and I are accustomed to wearing[br]attire

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typical of our country.

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And the truth is that time I wore a blouse[br]with flowers,

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very pretty, with strong colors,

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and now I always see it, I have the painting[br]in my home

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in my living room.

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Before anything, I give thanks to Aliza.

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[NISENBAUM] A lot of these women are people[br]that hide, in some ways,

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from public view--

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from being seen--

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because a lot of them are undocumented immigrants.

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So I was trying to give a sense of agency[br]to the women that were here

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in terms of finding their voice, in terms[br]art,

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and in terms of, also, basic English skills.

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There's such a rich history of social painting[br]in Mexico.

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You know, going back all the way to the muralists,[br]and...

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I think so much more art now has become about

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this social space--social practice.

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[Tania Bruguera; Artist, IMI Initiator]

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It's very important for everyone to know about[br]the poetics of this space.

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[BRUGUERA] The people in Immigrant Movement,[br]they are using art to empower themselves.

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So, they have been part of contemporary art[br]as well,

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and they understand now, much better,

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how contemporary art works,

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and everything they can get out of it.

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People can also grow and understand how to[br]work from their fear--

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with the limitations they have put on themselves[br]once they enter this country.

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[ANA RAMIEREZ] Because we're in a city

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that sometimes is somewhat difficult.

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Once a while we all go through difficult moments

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in our lives, no?

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For me, being in a ceremony gives me

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the strength to go forward day to day.

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So being here, for me, fills me with strength--

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strength, happiness,

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lots of energy,

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and it gives me pleasure to work together[br]with my family

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of the Tletlpapalotzin group.

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[IMI Community Celebration Day]

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[BRUGUERA] Immigrant Movement is not a finished[br]product yet.

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All the time that we spend in Immigrant Movement,

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until now, is to prepare the conditions for[br]the project to happen.

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If you ask me who I am, I think I am an idealist

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because I am dying to start a political party,

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because this is what I really wanted to do--

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to create a political power for immigrants,[br]by immigrants.

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And I know, in the United States, the risk[br]of doing that

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is that it's going to be seen maybe as

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a gesture more than an actual thing that happens.

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But we'll see.