NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — In collaboration with the Studios at MASS MoCA and The Berkshire Immigrant Center's Iris Residency, MCLA's Gallery 51 will open the "MIGRITUDE" exhibition next month.

 

"MIGRITUDE" will be on view from June 7 to July 14 with an opening reception on June 7 from 5 to 8 p.m. featuring live music and refreshments.

 

In 2023, the Studios at MASS MoCA and The Berkshire Immigrant Center started the Iris Residency to support artists in Western or Central Massachusetts who are born outside the U.S. or identify as first or second-generation Americans. The exhibition, "MIGRITUDE" (a word coined by featured artist Shailja Patel) showcases the work of the five selected Iris Residency fellows - Cima Khademi, Clemente Sajquiy, Marina Dominguez, Hanna Sobolieva, and Shailja Patel - and their different approaches to the continuous process of building connections to both, the old and the new place.

 

The exhibition is guest-curated by the Iris Fellowship coordinators Carolina Porras-Monroy & Luiza Folegatti.

"MIGRITUDE" (Kaya Press, 2010) is the bestselling book, based on the internationally touring one-woman show, of poet, activist, and exhibiting artist Shailja Patel. The word migritude captures the concepts of migrant attitudes and migrants with attitude. It represents a reclaiming of voice and power by migrants who speak for themselves.