This project has three main components; a multimedia documentary in five chapters on this website; a photo-book with quotes from interviews; and a community engagement project. The community engagement project is a participatory project with two Valle Alto towns residing in Virginia; Santa Rosa and Tarata. In May 2016, I spoke with their leadership boards (Santa Rosa LISAR and Comité-Pro Tarata) and asked about places in their town that they miss, that bring them strong memories, or that they want to see. I returned to Bolivia and photographed them in June of that year. In October 2016, we held an event with Comité-Pro Tarata in Springfield, Virginia, serving api and pasteles, a typical Bolivian food, and another event with Santa Rosa LISAR at the Annandale, Virgnia soccer fields where their community league plays. I displayed the photographs and asked participants to respond in writing with their memories and stories. The events were an opportunity for conversations between the members of each town to swap stories, to connect, and to remember, together.
Reciprocity is a way of life for the Bolivian community and it is important to me that reciprocity
be part of my artistic and journalistic practice as well as the relationships that I make.
Through this project, I am offering another bridge and an opportunity to remember collectively.
The project is ongoing.
Below is a weblink with the materials from the event with Tarata's Comité-Pro Tarata, a weblink with the materials from the event with Santa Rosa's Santa Rosa LISAR, and a form for YOU to share your thoughts on a few questions I have.
