This two-day symposium addresses the politics of borders as they intersect with issues of sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, and race. Featuring film screenings, poetry readings, performances, and panel discussions, the symposium accompanies installations by artist Carlos Motta on view at UC Santa Cruz and at SFMOMA, the latter as part of the exhibition SOFT POWER.

Motta’s works on display in the two venues focus on historical and present-day migrations and powerfully engage the production and management of borders. This symposium, produced by Motta in collaboration with Rachel Nelson, interim director of the Institute of Arts and Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, brings together artists, activists, and scholars to further examine the pressing issues of identities, borders, and boundaries.

Header Image: Carlos Motta, Narrative Shifter: A Portrait of Julio Salgado, 2019; commissioned by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for the exhibition SOFT POWER; image: Johnna Arnold.