Drawing from autobiographical work including painting, weaving, sculpture, installation, and video, A Journey Not Soon Forgotten explores the global impacts of migration. Featuring works that are derived from tradition and cultural histories, this exhibition reexamines the lens through which we regard “otherness” here in the United States and beyond. By analyzing the narrative-based contemporary artworks on display, we can begin to understand the complex, generational consequences resulting from any one person’s immigration. The nine exhibiting artists are working through ideas of lineage and labor while also examining political interests and significant historical events that affect their self-identities and their communities at large. Continuous themes of healing, connectivity, and consciousness all demonstrate an ever-present responsibility of global citizenship that can be detected throughout the exhibition. 

The transformative nature of this work is present as Helen Zughaib and You Wu source found materials to construct installations spotlighting universal issues of instability caused by abuse of power. The precarious repercussions of post-colonial capitalism are accentuated using items associated with safety, such as a tent or sleeping bag. In the tempestuous, neo-figurative works of Thiang Uk and Ainsley Burrows we can see feelings of post-migration unfamiliarity. This is similar to the turbulent yet tranquil nature of Lehna Huie’s work, a hodgepodge of fabrics fastened together to construct shrine-like sculptures, serving to remember and pay homage to her Jamaican ancestors.

Much of the artwork possesses a physicality that provides a glimpse into the discomfort of integrating into American society. First generation Americans Antonius-Tin Bui & Theresa-Xuan Bui and Jessica Elena Aquino experience an internal tug and pull, rooted in their yearning to connect to their lineage and their need to strive in a country that has political rifts with their families’ countries of origin. Likewise, featured works by Fahimeh Vahdat and Sam Husseini incorporate geographical elements that yield an engulfing sense of tension.

A Journey Not Soon Forgotten provides a platform that amplifies a multitude of global voices during this pivotal time in the art industry, as institutions and major stakeholders are challenged by those who have been historically excluded from conversations. The vastness that is the immigrant experience, riddled with nuance and variation, makes it crucial for members of these groups to have platforms to tell their own stories.

Many of these topics are left out of social discourse and overshadowed by the plethora of unresolved domestic issues we have here in the United States. Even so, immigration is still a primary concern within the voting blocks of our two major political parties - much like it has been for the last 10 years. It is imperative that we continue to pay attention to revisions and reversals in policies such as the cuts to refugee admissions, the elimination of fee waivers for immigration relief, and an increase in restrictions towards eligibility for asylum seekers. As of late, we’ve seen an increase in overt anti-immigration narratives from both of our most recent presidential administrations - the infamous Muslim Ban during the Trump administration, as well as the heavily criticized statements by President Biden and Vice President Harris telling potential migrants from Haiti and Guatemala “do not come.” These sentiments have weighted effects locally since immigrants make up about 15% of the population in the DC metropolitan area (around 1.3 million people). These are global issues caused by destabilization rooted in colonization, but we cannot allow these notorious pasts to dictate our future. We must continue to use our platforms, talents, and networks as vehicles towards change.