We are pleased to present Migrant Madonna, a mixed media group show curated by the mother-daughter collective MamaDotta (Joyce Dallal & Naima White). The exhibition brings together two collectives and eight artists who engage and transform the Icon of the Madonna to reflect contemporary economic and social issues, commemorate and celebrate their family culture and history, and amplify the voices and experiences of migrant women today. In California, approximately 50% of the child population has at least one immigrant parent. The migrant experience and the narratives of diasporic people shape the culture of our state and our city. Migrant Madonna activates SoLA’s mission by making visible the lives of migrant people, issuing a call for empathy, humanity, and action. The Diasporic framework of this exhibition articulates the reverence of the Madonna through cultural lenses of Latin and Black America, Central Europe, Iraq, Lebanon, and contemporary and historical migrant journeys, including that of The Virgin Mary. These dynamic artists present a rendition of Mary for the every day, for times of war and violence, and as resistance to conquest. Their practices engage personal and family archives, material culture, loss and dislocation, translation, and iconicity. Literally and figuratively, Artisans Beyond Borders, Carolina Aranibar-Fernandez, Doris Bitter, Christina Fernandez, Mark Steven Greenfield, Lahib Jaddo, MamaDotta, Michele Jaquis, Nadia Shihab, and Ralph Villalobos interpret the Madonna by reflecting the time and place of the artisan who crafted her. Image: Christina Fernandez, 1950, San Diego, California, from the series María’s Great Expedition, 1995-96. Archival pigment print. Powered by SoLA Contemporary