International Arrivals

International Arrivals speaks with Uta Bekaia (Georgia/USA) ( https://utabekaia.com/ ) about his performances and costumes, rituals and folklore, language, and the current political climate in Tbilisi. After living in New York for 20 years he returned to Georgia where he is committed to building community, and developing the art scene for queer youth despite the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric of the current...

International Arrivals speaks with AYDO, the interdisciplinary artist duo of Nicholas Oh and Ayoung Yu (Korea/USA) ( http://www.aydostudio.com ), about their exploration of Korean folklore and pre-colonial spiritual practices through ceramics, performance, and video. They reflect on their diasporic experiences, cultural identity, Oh's connection to breakdancing, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone (...

International Arrivals speaks with transdisciplinary artist Gita Hashemi (Iran/Canada) ( gitaha.net ) about her project  Grounding: States of Gender , which explores identity, language, and personal narrative. This embodied performative writing project transcribes stories of her friend Zahra through calligraphic writing in black and red painted onto giant scrolls. Unlike Hashemi, who left Iran aft...

International Arrivals speaks with interdisciplinary artist Miguel Alejandro Castillo (Venezuela/USA) ( https://www.instagram.com/love.entirely ) about his journey to the US to study dance and his work as a choreographer, dancer, and director. Castillo addresses the impact of immigration on his identity, his body, and the challenges of navigating bureaucratic language. He discusses loud and clear...

International Arrivals speaks with Filipino American artist duo Abang-guard, Maureen Catbagan and Jevijoe Vitug (Phillipines/USA) ( https://maureencatbagan.com/ ) about their current exhibition, Makibaka , at the Queens Museum in which they use the 1964-65 New York World's Fair's Philippines and New York State Pavilions as an entrance for talking about the importance of 1965 for Filipino American...

International Arrivals speaks with Rah Eleh (Iran/Canada)(https://www.rah-eleh.com/), about her multi-channel and immersive video work that critiques gender, nationhood, and ethnic identity. Rah discusses her use of parody, game shows, dance, and her characters—Orion, Fatima, and Coco—who explore themes of whiteness, nationalism, and queer identity.

International Arrivals speaks with artist Lau Wai (Hong Kong/USA) ( https://www.w-a-i-studio.com/) who discusses their video work, the growth of AI, and the relationship between virtual reality and our physical world. Their work explores identity formation through personal and historic archives, cinematic imagery, and emerging technologies.  The recent exhibition entitled "Facial Recognition" at J...

A special episode of the International Arrivals Podcast recorded live at Abrons Arts Center. International Arrivals brings together cultural workers to discuss the current political atmosphere and its threat to artists, arts organizations, and artistic freedom: Why is it important right now that arts organizations are focusing on social issues like global conflict, migration, and identity? Partici...

International Arrivals speaks with multi-disciplinary artist Lara Baladi (Egypt/Lebanon) ( tahrirarchives.com ). Baladi discusses Tahrir Cinema " an influential public pop-up cinema that served as a platform where filmmakers, artists, activists and civilians could share their stories during the 2011 Egyptian uprisings, aka Arab Spring. She talks about the current atmosphere in Egypt and censorship...

International Arrivals speaks with artist and NYU professor, Linda Sormin (Thailand, Indonesia, China, Canada, USA) ( https://www.lindasormin.com/ ) who discusses her journey from Bangkok to New York, her diasporic heritage, and her work exploring themes of upheaval, migration, and identity.  She reflects on her family's history, along with the erasure of Batak language and knowledge. Sormin's art...

International Arrivals speaks with artist Hangama Amiri (Afghanistan/Canada) ( http://www.hangamaamiri.com/ ) about her work that incorporates painting and textiles to memorialize her diasporic experience and elevate women's spaces, voices, and experiences. Her journey has had many stops from Peshawar to Kabul, Halifax to New Haven. Amiri discusses glittery fabrics, life in the bazaar, and women's...

International Arrivals speaks with ceramic artist Michelle Im (Korea/USA) ( https://ratxchicks.club )about her work that explores themes of home, displacement, and cultural identity. Her whimsical recent work focuses on the figure of the flight attendant, which she associates with a sense of home. She also explores the tradition of Korean ceramics, particularly moon jars, to symbolize her dual cul...

International Arrivals speaks with  artist  Christhian C. Diaz Silva   (Colombia/USA) ( https://christhiandiaz.com/ )  about his recent performance at Movement Research and his path from cleaning offices with his mother to his life as an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and legal immigration advocate.

International Arrivals speaks with performance artist Natacha Voilakovsky (Argentina/USA)( https://natachavoliakovsky.com/ ) about her move to the US and how she uses the materials of her body in her work as a symbol of social struggle, power, and control. 

International Arrivals speaks with interdisciplinary artist Helina Metaferia (Ethiopia/USA)( https://helinametaferia.com ) about the Ethiopian diaspora in the US, her use of archives and collage in her work, and what it means to be radical and disruptive. 

International Arrivals speaks with visual artist Arleene Correa Valencia (Mexico/USA) ( https://www.correavalencia.com/ ) about her latest projects, her family's journey from Mexico to California and their former undocumented status. She speaks about her textile work and the shared trauma of border crossing: love and suffering, the visible and the invisible.

International Arrivals speaks with visual artist Jose Campos aka Studio Lenca (El Salvador/USA/UK) ( https://www.studiolenca.com/ ) about his latest projects, his journey from El Salvador to the US, where he and his mother were undocumented, and eventually becoming a citizen of the UK. He speaks about collaborating with local communities and the utopia of El Jardin where multitudes of species and...

International Arrivals speaks with artist Nyugen E. Smith (Caribbean/USA) ( https://www.nyugensmith.com/ ) about his use of found objects and maps, along with his interest in Yoruba practices and his first memory of snow.

International Arrivals speaks with interdisciplinary artist Golnar Adili (Iran/USA) ( https://golnaradili.com ) about her movement between Iran and the US, her relationship with her father, and the archive.

International Arrivals speaks with  interdisciplinary artist  Azita Moradkhani (Iran/USA) ( http://azitamora.com/ )  about her exhibition  The Real Beneath at Jane Lombard gallery, pleasure, pain,  the female body, and her transition to the US.

International Arrivals speaks with  Katya  Grokhovsky (Ukraine/Australia/USA),  interdisciplinary artist and Founding Director of the Immigrant Artist Biennial, about her work, immigration and movement. ( https://www.katyagrokhovsky.net )    The second Immigrant Artist Biennial opens in New York on September 8, 2023. ( https://www.theimmigrantartistbiennial.com )

International Arrivals in conversation with Korean-Canadian artist David Khang (www.davidkhang.com) about the military and migration, language slippage, wrong places, dentistry, and the law.

International Arrivals speaks with Belarus-American artist Alina Bliumis (https://www.alinabliumis.com/) about her series Bruises , Tips for New Americans, and her upcoming opening at Situations Gallery in New York's Lower East Side. 

International Arrivals speaks with Palestinian-Canadian artist Rana Nazzal Hamadeh ( https://www.rananazzal.com/ ) about the idea of home, loss and the power of imagination. 

International Arrivals speaks with British artist Harold Offeh ( www.haroldoffeh.com ) about his latest project, migration, place, and embodied histories at the Van Gogh House in London, England.