AT FIRST GLANCE it was a dull gray wall suspended by wires, hanging from the ceiling as if to threateningly loom over all who visited. The coiled barbed wire at the top of the wall sparkled as Spanish music filled the room. At the opening night of the exhibit, kids and adults alike took turns kicking around a soccer ball shaped piñata while others mingled. One attendee was dressed up as a piñata. Everything about this setting was festive… except the wall.

By the sounds of it, you might not have guessed that what I was describing was an art exhibit. This collaborative exhibit titled Estamos contra el muro featured the creative and engaging work of Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik in collaboration with Piñatas Las Morenitas Martínez, Little Piñata Maker, Cece Carpio, Iván Padilla Mónico, La Pelanga, People’s Kitchen Collective, and Norma Listman. Estamos contra el muro—We are Against the Wall—was created as a response to this unusual election season and the political, economic, and social unrest that it has brought about. Estamos contra el muro directly addresses Donald Trump’s proposition of a border wall as a way to create national unity while more implicitly assigning otherness to those whom the wall is meant to keep out.

Ironically there was a sense of light-heartedness throughout the gallery, which could have been attributed to the fact that we knew the fate of this wall. This piñata wall stood in solidarity not with the idea of building a wall at the border. The impermanence of the piñatas that composed the wall were the assurance that this wall would not stand between the United States and another community.

A little over a month later, I returned to see the conclusion of this dynamic exhibit. Hundreds squeezed into the gallery space to see the wall that had once bore a single monotonous color. This wall was more than just covered in graffiti; it was covered in imagery and letters that expressed feelings of separation, fear, anger, as well as optimistic messages of overcoming obstacles. In this moment, I realized that this wall was not just central to the issue of the intended wall separating the United States from Mexico. The age-old adage “history repeats itself” shone through in the renderings of people who had shared their story on the wall.

We were encouraged to write down various experiences from our childhood on a piece of paper and slide them through the openings in the pinata wall. In return, we received a guajolota—a filling torta de tamal to fuel our highly anticipated wall smashing. Once again, the gallery space was filled with the festive warmth similar to that of the opening night. But this time, there was a new excitement built up from the anticipation of breaking down this very symbolic wall.

Suddenly, the Spanish music faded away as a different tune rang throughout the gallery:

We who believe in freedom will not rest /

We who believe in freedom will not rest until it comes.

When we think of an art exhibit, we think of looking at a collection of pieces from a distance. Yet in the ever-evolving art scene with which we situated, we are called to engage with the artwork before us. Often situated around topics of political unrest, the artwork not only incites a response but calls us to action. The Estamos contra el muro exhibit was an exceptional example of this.

Instead of standing and admiring from afar, we were invited—in order of youngest to smallest to keep with tradition—to take part in literally deconstructing the wall before us. One by one, as children eagerly beat the wall, the piñata “cinderblocks” began to smash and fall to the floor. If you can imagine candy, confetti, and peso were flying out of the piñata cinder blocks that had once formed a wall. As I looked around, I saw people laughing, dancing, singing, and just enjoying one another with the same enthusiasm and as a family gathering.

For me, Estamos contra el muro was particularly refreshing because no matter the social, political, or cultural background, we were all there to unite and advocate against building physical borders between one another.

Want to learn more?

Southern Exposure: https://www.soex.org/projects-exhibitions/estamos-...

People’s Kitchen Collective: http://peopleskitchencollective.com/whatwedo