PARA/normal Borders unfolds across multiple sites on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. The opening program begins with a three-day Borderlands Weekend, October 22 – 24, 2026, with events taking place throughout the Imperial Valley and Mexicali. The project brings together exhibitions, performances, screenings, conversations, interventions, and other public programs exploring the border as a thin place, shaped by memories, movement, surveillance, and imagination.

VESSEL, 2024

PARA/normal Borders continues through December 2026 in the Borderlands before migrating to The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Arts & Culture in Riverside, CA

This exhibition presents works that address themes related to aliens, migration and detention, and the mechanisms used to document both phenomena. Through painting, sculpture, video, and installation, the artists explore these subjects, prompting questions about otherness. The exhibition develops a discourse centered on memory, the affirmation of human dignity, and the oral histories evoked by the images.

Esta exhibición presenta obras que abordan temas vinculados con lo alienígena, la migración y sus detenciones, y los aparatos de registro de ambos fenómenos. A través de pintura, escultura, video e instalación, lxs artistas exploran estos temas que guían preguntas relacionadas con la otredad. La muestra presenta un discurso que pone énfasis en la memoria, la reivindicación humana y los relatos orales que desencadenan las imágenes.

Participating Artists/Artistas Participantes:

Edgar Fabián Frías, Santiago Nuñez, Alicia Soto Alvarez, Kiyo Gutierrez