Arts and entertainment

Show Me Your Papers / A Ver, Y Tus Papeles?

Posted by Brandi Engel for College of Fine Arts
Curated by Eddy López, Associate Professor, Bucknell University and Miguel Aragón, Associate Professor, CUNY Staten Island

Featuring the works of Golnar Adili, Miguel A. Aragon, Carlos Barberena, Adriana Barrios, Tulu Bayar, Pamela Dodds, J. Leigh Garcia, Juana Estrada-Hernandez, Eddy A. López, Emma Nishimura, Patricia Villalobos-Echeverría, and Marco Sanchez.

Every day, hundreds of thousands of people cross borders. At these crossings, governments ask individuals to present papers for verification of migration status, documents that restrict entry to those individuals lucky enough to be verified by proof.

For migrants without papers, the mundane question “Show me your papers/ A ver, y tus papeles?” is not mundane, but rather an impossible interrogation that forces these individuals to risk their lives in an effort to avoid being verified. Having papers, therefore, becomes a matter of life or death.

This exhibition presents artists whose work on paper deals with issues of borders, migration, dual identity, as explored through print media.

Gallery hours

Tuesday - Saturday: 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Aug. 19, 2025 — midnight
Albertine Monroe-Brown Gallery Richmond Center for Visual Arts
Kalamazoo, MI 49008 US
Free and open to the public