Migrant People Party (MPP)

Conception Year: 2006

Implementation Years: 2010 – 2015

Medium: Implementation of a new form of mass political organization and creation of other forms of
political representation.

Duration: Long – Term Project

Materials: Immigration policies established by countries receiving large waves of immigration, immigrants, local and federal politicians, public presentations, performances, installations, art,
activism.

Location: Mexico D.F., Mexico

Statement

With a platform geared towards the political presence of citizens expelled from their places of origin and access to rights, the Migrant People Party (MPP) is a party of ideas that will break into the 2012 Mexican Elections. Parting from the phenomenon of migration, the party’s political axis is centered in taking steps towards the disappearance of borders, where dignity has no nationality.

Our platform demands the creation of structures in civil society that:

. Include migrants in equal conditions as real citizens.
. Eliminates the differentiation amongst people based on their migratory status.
. Recognizes that the global system, through migration, generates the characteristics of a trans-

border modern slavery.
. Creates and promotes living conditions in which migration is an option, not an imposition.
. Identifies the inadequate treatment of Mexican institutions towards the Central American

migrants, which is similar to the one suffered by Mexican immigrants in the United States.
. Demands a political arena for both citizens and migrants from the receiving places.
. Claims dignity in migrant treatment.

. Calls for a public space that is a common property to all.

In the public sphere, the party points to one of Mexico’s contemporary phenomenons: migration -a political issue displaced from the electoral campaigns of the main political parties of the country. The geographic border between Mexico and the United States allows for a massive migration of Mexicans to the North, while Mexico also experiences the reception and transit of groups coming primarily from Central America. In the Mexican territory, this dynamic generates a time-space related to displacement and associated to the violation of human rights, which further rips out the country’s social fabric. In many cases, Mexican authorities repeat the same unjust conditions experienced by Mexican immigrants in the United States, with the people (permanent or in transit) that reach the country. At the same time, the migrant population in Mexico constitutes a ghost population that lacks political agency.

The party is an area where all migrants can employ a political presence through education, the active and deliberate use of the media, and a series of creative actions focused on issues that affect the different types of migrants. Presented by the Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros (SAPS), the MPP will hold a series of informal forums for the general public centered on Mexico’s complex migratory issues. During the months preceding the elections, the MPP will align with other groups that work on migration issues, artists and citizens. The MPP will communicate with the social and political spheres through the media. In April, the party will move to a venue in the center of the city. For those who choose to join the party, it is neutral, safe and accessible. Finally in May and June, the MPP will creatively intervene in the public space through a series of actions that will highlight the lack of attention to issues of migration in the electoral campaigns. In August and September, a publication will be edited to commemorate the project. It will be launched at the end of 2012.

In Mexico City, the MPP (in collaboration with SAPS) is a project that parts from Immigrant Movement International in Queens, New York, initiated by artist Tania Bruguera and sponsored by The Queens Museum of Art and Creative Time. Its purpose is to redefine the citizen-migrant position and access the concept of “useful art,” -a notion that promotes the integration of art in search of sustainable long-term solutions to urgent social and political issues.

Documentation

Voceros, 29.05.2012

México D.F., Mexico

Photos: Courtesy of SAPS

Statement

Documentation

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