BENTONVILLE, ARK.- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announces the temporary exhibition, Border Cantos: Sight & Sound Explorations from the Mexican-American Border, on view February 18 through April 24, 2017. Admission to Crystal Bridges and Border Cantos is free.

Border Cantos, a unique collaboration between American photographer Richard Misrach and Mexican American sculptor/composer Guillermo Galindo, uses the power of art to explore the complex issues surrounding the United States-Mexico border.

“Through exhibiting works by artists of different cultural backgrounds, we are able to broaden our understanding of the American experience. Border Cantos invites visitors to explore the migrant experience in a setting that’s inclusive and respectful,” said Rod Bigelow, Crystal Bridges Executive Director, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

The exhibition features approximately 80 works of photography, sculpture, found objects, and sound that document and transform artifacts from the border. Misrach, who has focused his photography on the border since 2004, documents landscapes and objects, including items left behind by migrants. His large-scale photographs, along with grids of smaller photos, highlight issues surrounding migration and its effect on regions and people.

Responding to these photographs, Galindo fashioned sound-generating sculptures from objects Misrach collected along the border, such as water bottles, Border Patrol “drag tires,” spent shotgun shells, ladders, and sections of the border wall itself. The sounds they produce give voices to people through the personal belongings they have left behind.

“We’re artists; we’re not politicians. We want to give people the experience of the border, and to get acquainted with the immigrants’ journey. To make it palpable. To make it human.” -- Guillermo Galindo, referring to himself and Richard Misrach.

The exhibition, Border Cantos, was born of a chance encounter at an event in San Francisco in 2011 when Misrach attended a performance by Galindo featuring his original compositions played on instruments he constructed of objects found at the US-Mexico border. By the next year, the two artists started to develop their work in tandem. Misrach began thinking of his photographs as having a musical quality to them and Galindo’s compositions materialized into images, each interpreting a landscape laden with remnants of individual’s journeys.

“While the topic of the US-Mexico border is challenging and even divisive at times, Misrach and Galindo seek to bridge divides instead of creating barriers. The artwork in the exhibition creates a space for visitors to develop a deeper understanding of the complicated issues surrounding the border,” said Ali Demorotski, exhibition curator at Crystal Bridges.