Project Title: Agit-Van
Recipient Organization: San Francisco Art Institute
Lead Artist: Sergio De La Torre
Genre and Data Awarded: Visual Arts, June 2007
To Be Completed: Summer 2008

The San Francisco Bay Area, once a relatively safe haven for immigrants, has seen recent rounds of federal immigration raids, leading to growing fear and paranoia among both legal residents and undocumented immigrants and their families. Five young artists from the San Francisco Art Institute, five young immigrants from Instituto Familiar de la Raza, and lead artist Sergio de la Torre will create a new work, Agit-Van, which explores how these changing conditions are affecting the Bay Area immigrant community.

Over the course of six months, the San Francisco Art Institute students and young people working at Instituto Familiar de la Raza (all ten of them immigrants or the children of immigrants) will collaborate to investigate notions of safety and security through films made in their community. The completed pieces will be screened “guerrilla-style”—projected through a traveling cinema truck that is equipped with a video projector and sound system provided by the Art Institute and is fully able to present an on-the-spot cinema, requiring only a blank wall for projection. In this way, the art will both come from and be brought back into the community.

Agit-Van is founded on Maquilapolis, a piece developed by De La Torre with Vicky Funari and supported by a previous Creative Work Fund grant. For that project, the artists collaborated with twelve factory workers in Tijuana, teaching them how to use their cameras and editing equipment so they could give voice to a community that presently has little opportunity or power for expression. Similarly, Agit-Van will involve its subjects as creative participants in constructing their stories.

De La Torre is a photographer and performance/installation artist who grew up in the Tijuana/San Diego border area and migrated to San Francisco. His photographic, performance and installation works have focused on issues regarding Diaspora/tourism, immigration, and identity politics. De La Torre has previously collaborated with both local and international nonprofit organizations. In addition to Maquilapolis, he worked with two San Francisco non-profits and middle school students in 1997 on “Power in the House,” a series of digitally produced cards that narrated the relations between Mexican-American teenagers and their immigrant parents. And in 2001, he worked with teens and other local collaborators on The Housing Project, which explored how the shortage of affordable housing transforms private spaces into public spaces. Agit-Van is part of his effort to continue an art practice that, as he writes, “moves away from museums and galleries,” becoming “more participatory and inclusive.”

Founded in 1871, the San Francisco Art Institute offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in fine arts. Agit-Van not only provides an opportunity for the school’s students to be part of a collaborative project, but also furthers the vision of a dynamic new component of the school’s exhibitions program. “Acting Out in the City (from Prototype of Realization),” as it is called, uses part of the Art Institute’s gallery space “as a laboratory for large scale projects of interventions in the city to claim a more intense relationship between artistic productions and public spaces.”

LEAD ARTIST

Sergio de la Torre

SELECTED MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS

• 2007 Zacheta National Gallery, Wroclaw, Poland, Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, UK
  Atelier Frankfurt, Germany, The Brooklyn Museum, NY, Düsseldorf Fair for Contemporary Art, Germany,
  10th International Istanbul Biennial, Turkey , Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Monica, Santa Monica, CA, MUCA, México. D.F.
  
• 2006 Museum of Fine Arts Houston, TX, California Orange County Biennial 06, N-340 Espai D”Art Contermporanei Castelló, Spain, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA, Gallery 727, Los Angeles, CA, Museo del Palacio de la Autonomía, México, DF, Alliance Francais, San Francisco, CA., Cultural Institute of Mexico, Washington, DC, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, La Jolla, CA.
  
• 2005 El Pobre Diablo, Quito, Ecuador., Centro Cultural Tijuana, Tijuana, México, Antiguos Depósitos del Parque Pignatelli, Zaragoza, Spain, MassMOCA, North Adams, MA, CCEBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alcala 31, ARCO 05, Madrid, Spain
  
• 2004 San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA.
  
• 2003 The Circus Project, La Habana, Cuba, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA, Lizabeth Oliveria, Gallery, San Francisco, CA., The Museum of New Art (MONA), Detroit, MI, International Center of Photography, New York, NY.
  
• 2002 Cedille Space (with Torolab), Paris, France., Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, CA. ProArts Gallery, Oakland, CA.
  
• 2001 Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, CA, Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA.
  
• 2000 inSITE 2000 (with Armando Rascon), Tijuana, BC Mexico, San Jose Museum of Modern Art, San Jose, CA, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA., Casa de la Cultura Casa Lamm, México City.
  
• 1999 DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA, San Francisco Art Institute Walter/McBean Gallery, San Francisco CA, San Francisco State University Art Gallery, San Francisco CA, Bienal Barro de America (with Coco Fusco). Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA.
  
• 1997 The 2nd Johannesburg Biennale (with Coco Fusco). Johannesburg, South Africa, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA, The 10th Annual Cleveland Performance Art Festival, Cleveland, OH, University Art Gallery, Sonoma State University, Sonoma, CA.
  
• 1996 Border Subjects International Conference, University of Illinois, Normal, Ill, Galeria de La Raza, San Francisco, CA.

FILM/VIDEO SCREENINGS (Maquilapolis Screenings)

• 2007 NYMOMA Documentary Fortnight, AMBULANTE Film Festival, Mexico, 9th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century, Greece, 9th Women’s Film Festival in Seoul, Korea, PLAY>DOC, Galicia, Spain, Muestra Internacional de Cine, Zaragoza, Spain, Melbourne Film Festival, Australia, Festival de Cine Iberico y Latino Americano, Villeurbanne, France, Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, Austin, Texas, Tekfestival, Rome, Italy, YiLan Green International Film Festival in Taiwan, Globale Labor B Fest, Berlin, Germany, Bologna Human Rights Nights Film Festival, Italy, The House of Culture of Latin America, Berlin
• 2006 35th International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, Green Film Festival, Seoul, Korea, Contra el Silencio, Centro Nacional Para Las Artes, Mexico, D.F, Tribeca Film Festival, New York, NY, Guadalajara International Film Festival, Guadalajara, Mexico, Chicago Latino Film Festival, Chicago, IL, HotDocs Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, Seattle International Film Festival, CECUT Tijuana, Mexico, Mostra Internacional de Films de Dones de Barcelona, Spain, Los Angeles Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA, Acapulco Film Festival, Acapulco, México, MadCat Film Festival, Bay Area,, Films from the South, Oslo, Norway, WMW2006, Tapiei, Taiwan, Center for Social Media at American University, Washington, DC, Amnesty International Reel Awareness Film Festival, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Morelia International Film Festival, Mexico, Biooners Conference, San Rafael, CA, Sao Paulo Film Festival, Brazil, Tallgrass Film Festival, Kansas City, 49th International Lepizig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany, San Francisco International Latino Film Festival, Belgium, Festival of Liberties, Marda Loop Justice Film Festival, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Leeds International Film Festival, Great Britain, Amnesty International Film Festival in Vancouver, Canada, St. Louis International Film Festival, Dominican Republic Global Film Festival, CPH:DOX, Copenhagen, Denmark, Women's Worlds Festival Human Rights, Terre Des Femmes, Tuebingen, Germany, Docudays Beirut International Documentary Festival (8th)

FILM/VIDEO (productions)

• 2006 MAQUILAPOLIS, (USA/México/2006 68 min.) An hour long video documentary about (and by) workers in Tijuana's assembly factories, the maquiladoras. Director/Producer/Camera.
  
• 1994 The Garden of Eden, (Canada/USA/Mexico/ 90 min.) Maria Novaro. The U.S./Mexico border is the setting for this trio of tales surrounding displaced individuals looking for a better life. Art Director Assistant.
  
• 1992 Raza, (USA/1993/41 min.) Adolfo Davila. A documentary video shot in location on the state of California on High 8mm and Beta Cam SP. Raza addresses Chicano and Mexican identities and the social and political reality in the United States through their words and voices. Photography.
  
• 1991 Los Que Se Van, (Mexico/1991/26 min.) Adolfo Davila. A video documentary exploring Mexican immigration to California. Assistant Producer.

RESIDENCIES

• 2007 Montalvo Arts Center, San Jose, CA
  
• 2005 MassMOCA, North Adams, Massachusetts.
  Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA.
  The Center for Art and Public Life, CCA. Oakland, CA.
  
• 2002 Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland, CA

AWARDS/GRANTS

• 2007 ARTADIA, The Fund for Art and Dialogue, NY, Creative Work Fund, San Francisco, CA, Patrimonio de Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico, DF, Alliance of Artists Communities, California
  
• 2006 Programa de Fomento a Proyectos y Coinversiones Culturales, FONCA, Mexico, DF, Threshold Foundation, San Francsico, CA, MAQUILAPOLIS Amnesty Intl. Special Jury Award CPH:DOX, Copenhagen, Denmark, Audience Award, Mostra Internacional de Films de Dones de Barcelona, Spain, Outstanding Achievement Award Tribeca Film Festival, NY, Honorable Mention Green Film Festival of Seoul, Korea, Best Documentary, Contra el Silencio, Mexico, D.F, Honorable Mention, VII Bienal Monterrey FEMSA, Mexico
  
• 2005 Sundance Documentary Fund, Salt Lake City, UT, Pantha Rhea, San Francisco, CA
  
• 2004 ITVS, San Francisco, CA, LEF Foundation, Marin County, CA
  
• 2003 National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, DC, CCA Faculty Development Grant, San Francisco, CA, Potrero Nuevo Fund Prize, San Francisco, CA
  Threshold Foundation, San Francisco, CA, The New World Foundation, New York, NY
  
• 2001 The Creative Work Fund, San Francisco, CA, Creative Capital Foundation, New York, NY, Potrero Nuevo Fund Prize, a program administered by New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA, The U.S. - Mexico Fund for Culture, Mexico, DF
  
• 1999 Cultural Equity Grant, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
  
• 1998 The Eureka Fellowship, The Fleishhacker Foundation, San Francisco
  Bay Area Award, New Langton Arts, Performance Art. San Francisco, CA
  

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Arthur, Paul, “Art of the Real”, Film Comment (Nov-Dec 2007) pp 20-21
  
• McDowell, Tara, “The Documentarians”, Aritsts of Invention, exh cat (2007) pp 111-116
  
• Hanru, Hou, the 10th Istanbul Biennial, exhibition catalogue (2007) pp192-193
  
• Lebuhn, Henrik, “Maquilapolis”, IZ3W, Nummer 297, German Press (Oct 2006)
  
• Aparicio, Marcel, "Les Femmes de Tijuana", Actualites, France Press (June, 2006)
  
• Blake, Patricia, "Maquilapolis", Frontera, Tijuana, Mexico (June, 2006)
  
• DPA, "Maquilapolis, Testimonio de Vidas Trastocadas por la Globalizacion", La Jornada, Ciudad de Mexico   (May, 2006) 
  
• Bustamante, Paula, "Maquilapolis', El Nuevo Diario, Managua, Nicaragua (Sept, 2006)
  
• Montezuma, Alessandra, “Strange New World”, ARTFORUM (Jan. 2007 ) p.257-258
  
• Elhaik, Tarek & Montezemolo, Fiamma, “The Assembly City”, Architect’s Newspaper (Sept, 2006) p.19
  
• Sarai Reader 6, “TURBULENCE”, New Delhi, India (July, 2006) p.333-336
  
• Morlan, Kinsee, “Products Over People”, San Diego City Beat (October, 2006)
  
• Chambers, Kristin, California Biennial 06, exhibition catalogue, OCMA (October, 2006)
  
• Genzlinger, Neil, “TV Review | MAQUILAPOLIS”, NY Times (September 26, 2006)
  
• Teagle, Rachel, Transactions, exhibition catalogue, MCASD, San Diego, CA (2006)
  
• Irsay, Steve, “Crossing Borders”, Coast Magazine (August 15, 2006)
  
• Glaster, Dan, “Breaking Boundaries”, Guardian UK (August 11, 2006)
  
• Malkin, Elisabeth, “Tijuana Transforms Into a Cultural Hotbed”, New York Times (June 8, 2006)
  
• San Roman, Lucia, “Strange New World”, exhibition catalogue, San Diego, CA: MCASD, 2006.
  
• Pincus, Robert, “Strange New World”, San Diego Tribune (May 6, 2006)
  
• Fischer, Martha, “Maquilapolis”, Cinematical (Apr 13, 2006)
  
• Weissberg, Jay, “Maquilapolis”, Variety (Feb 20, 2006)
  
• Reed, Johnson, “A New Direction South of the Border”, LA Times (February, 23 2006)
  
• Pimentel, Taiyana, “Tijuana Sessions”, exhibition catalogue, Madrid, Spain: Alcala 31 ARCO 05, 2005
  
• Modigliani, Leah, “The People’s Republic”, Strecher, online magazine, San Francisco, CA (May 2004)
  
• “At Work: The Art of California Labor”, exhibition catalogue, San Francisco, CA: SFSU Art Gallery, 2003.
  
• Buuck, David, “Viology”, Artweek 33, issue 9 (November 2002): p.19.
  
• Alba, Victoria, “thehousingproject”, Artweek 33 (April 2002): p. 13.
  
• Le Duc, Aimee, “Home Slice”, Oakland’s Urban View (February 2002) p. 8.
  
• Marech, Rona, “Home Show”, San Francisco Chronicle, Real Estate Section H (February 2002):p.1.
  
• Wilson, William. “New Art From The Bay Area.” Los Angeles Times (2001).
  
• -The Eureka Fellowship Awards exhibition catalogue, 1999 - 2001.
  
• Bonetti, David, “Eureka Exhibition,” San Francisco Chronicle (February 2001):p.E2.
  
• Helfand, Glen, “Hybrid,” The San Francisco Bay Guardian (Jan – Feb 2000):p.93.
  
• O’Toole Owen, “SURVEILLANCE: The Artist is Watching Back”, Artweek 31(September 2000):p.14.
  
• Museum Pieces, exhibition catalogue, San Francisco, CA: M.H. de Young Museum, 1999.

COLLECTIONS

• The Verbund Collection, Vienna, Austria.
  
• The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
  
• The Museum of Modern Art New York