Transborder Dialogues: Migration Through Children’s Eyes

A photo exhibition called “Transborder Dialogues: Migration Through Children’s Eyes,” is on display through June 22 at the Santa Maria Town Center mall.

Free and open to the public, the 100-photo exhibition is being held at Santa Maria Town Center’s upper level across from Payless Shoes.

The exhibit is a collaboration between the Center for Research and Postgraduate Studies in Social Anthropology in Mexico, and the University of California, Santa Barbara. It is the result of five photographic workshops coordinated by Dr. Magdalena Barros Nock and Patricia Zamudio Grave.

“The well being of family members is one of the main reasons why people migrate,” Barros said. “To improve their children’s living conditions and opportunities in life are the main objectives of many migrant parents. … With this part of migration in mind, professors and students carried out the program - three in California and two in Veracruz. All members of migrant families, the workshop’s photographers were children between the ages of 7 and 16.

“Our objective was to give these children a tool to express what migration meant to them individually and to their family members,” Barros added. “It also was an opportunity to express what life in California was like. The public will see how children were able to capture, through photography, their daily life, joys and dreams - with astonishing beauty and frankness.

“For a moment, the children allow us to see through their eyes. We see the great intensity and sincerity as they show the pain of migration’s inevitable separation, loved ones’ absence and youth’s vulnerability. And, all 100 photographs were selected by the children to show in the exhibit.”

The exhibit is open from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For special tours, call Barros at 264-2337.