Join us to celebrate World Refugee Day with a series of programming and activities centered around stories of migration and refugee communities from members of the SDSU and local community.

All Events are FREE and open to the public

Currently planned activities include*:

1:00 – 7:00 p.m. (by appointment)
A Portrait of People in Motion: Participatory project recording the objects and stories of migration by:
Kerianne Quick, Assistanat Professor, School of Art + Design and Artist-in-Residence at the New Americans Museum

Did you come to live in San Diego from another state? Another country? Did your family or ancestors come from somewhere else? Do you have a special object from that place? Or a story about an object from that place?

YOU are invited to share a personal object or object memory – significant to your own migration story, or that of your family. A Portrait of People in Motion honors and collects migration stories of Americans new and long-established. New Americans Museum Artist-in-Residence Kerianne Quick and the NAM invite you to participate in this project that will paint a portrait of our city through objects brought or left behind during migration journeys.

How to participate:
1. Make an appointment (appointments are 15 minutes each) here: https://portrait-of-a-people-in-motion-with-new-americans-museum.appointlet.com/
2. Bring your object to the SDSU Downtown Gallery at 725 W Broadway.
3. Share a story about your object and it will be photographed for 3D printing.
4. Your story will be archived along with the 3D printed recreation of your object in text or audio format at the New Americans Museum.

Learn more about A Portrait of People in Motion:
http://newamericansmuseum.org/event/artist-in-residence-project-a-portrait-of-people-in-motion-with-kerianne-quick/

5:15 – 6:15 p.m.
Gallery Talk and Conversation with:
Nish Nalbandian, Editorial Photographer
Presented in partnership with Medium Photo

Photographer, Nish Nalbandian will be in the gallery to talk about his bodies of work, which are the results of his experience documenting the Syrian Civil War and subsequent migration of Syrian refugees into southern Turkey. A Whole World Blind documents the individual stories of fighters on the front line of Northern Syria’s rebel-held territories and everyday citizens navigating their war-torn country. A Handful of Dust shares the daily experiences and circumstances of Syrians who have fled their home country and upended their lives through thoughtful images that depict a diverse set of outcomes.

Nish Nalbandian has photographed in more than 35 countries worldwide in a variety of environments and continues to cover Syrian Refugee issues. Nalbandian’s awards include First Prize for Conflict photography in the 2014 IPA, the Gold Medal for War Photography in the 2014 PX3, and many more.

This gallery talk is presented in partnership with Medium Photo.

https://www.nishfoto.com/a-handful-of-dust
https://www.nishfoto.com/a-whole-world-blind

6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Conversation and Letter-Reading by Detainee Allies with:
Dr. Kate Swanson, Associate Professor, Department of Geography
Jennifer Gonzalez, Legal Communicator, Torchlight Legal Communications
SDSU MFA Students

Join us for an informational and interactive experience in learning how to connect with asylum-seeking refugees who have been detained at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Dr. Kate Swanson and immigration attorney, Jennifer Gonzalez, will lead an open conversation about the organization Detainee Allies and how it has connected the general public to asylum-seekers currently being held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. In addition to the conversation, guests will hear letters from those detained in Otay Mesa read by SDSU students and have the opportunity to engage in an activity that will assist them in writing their own letters to asylum-seekers.

Learn more about Detainee Allies and recent press:
http://www.detaineeallies.org/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/07/us/immigrant-detainee-letters.html

* Please check our Facebook event page here for updated details/times and additions as programming develops.

Partnering organizations:
Detainee Allies
Medium Photo
New Americans Museum