Kickstarter

We've hit $3,500! We are excited and humbled by receiving so much support for this project. Thank you for helping us do this in Arizona. If you haven't yet pledged, please still do so. 100% of funds raised on Kickstarter will go toward ABN artists' travel and ABN production expenses. 

These days, when you hear the word "Arizona," what comes to mind?

Yeah, we know: not much good. It's almost as if the word itself has become a synonym of bigotry. We feel the word "Arizona" has come to divide us, has come between us, between nosotros and our neighbor to the south. But we want to change that, and we're going to do something about it.

We're a group of independent artists based in Arizona, each with some kind of connection to Mexico. Rather than adding our own voices to an already crowded debate, we want to hear from Mexican artists. So we're making it happen.

The festival will run over three nights: one in Nogales, one in Tucson, and the state capital of Phoenix. The most cutting-edge Mexican performance artists will be there in person, and work from some of the country's best video artists. To make sure they're the best, we're bringing three internationally renowned artists to perform, and asking them to help us curate work submitted to ABN through a nationwide open call to all Mexican artists.

We live and work in Arizona. People want this to happen. We have several venues in each city that would love to host the events. We have momentum, passion and experience. What we need is your help in paying the travel costs of the participating artists, and paying the production costs. This festival is completely not-for-profit, and we're working with an established Arizona 501(c)3 organization, Opendance, as our fiscal sponsor.

Festivals like this are usually organized by big museums or institutions. But so far, no one in Arizona has stepped up with the courage to do it. So now it's up to us, and up to you. Governments may disagree with each other, but people in both countries deserve a chance to meet and create dialog through art.

Lead organizers, top to bottom: MIchéle Ceballos Michot, Heather Wodrich, Logan Phillips, Adam Cooper-Terán, Laura Milkins, Paco Velez.

Track: Chancha Via Circuito - Cumbion de las Aves http://www.myspace.com/chanchaviacircuito

Thanks: Keelan Carothers, Moisés Regla.