The video installation, Whispers from the Divide, seeks to encapsulate the tangible and intangible barriers between the US-Mexico border. The video, filmed on both sides of the border, is projected to two sides of a wall, signaling the physical and symbolic divides. The project navigates through diverse landscapes from San Diego to Brownsville and from Matamoros to Tijuana, embracing the ritual of walking as a form of meditation and reflection. The imagery in Liou’s work is echoed by his humanistic stories about the border communities.

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Original soundtrack by Steven Wayne Thomas ​

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Artist Statement 

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I remember reaching Rio Grande for the first time in El Paso. The river was calm, seemingly deep, and not that wide. I saw a patrol detain a teenager who probably just swam over. It reminded me of the two kids who climbed over the fence in San Diego. They were very submissive when they got caught. Images and stories like this always make me sad. Even more so when I think of the children who are forced into harsh and dangerous conditions, being separated from their parents, or even dying in the process. Their experience pushed me out of my comfort zone and to walk in places that seemed like the edge of the world. Sacred mountains in Tibet, tsunami coastline in Japan, and here the US-Mexico border. I take these journeys as my pilgrimage and the footsteps as my prayers. It is how I cope with the world’s suffering. 

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The border, as remote as some of the locations are, is not the edge of the world to the people portrayed in this work. It is the center of their community, where life on the street, culture in the air, and landscape on the horizon are backdrops to rich human experiences. When this project was conceived in 2018, the language of “The Wall” was used as a political token, overshadowing every social, economic, and humanitarian discussion about immigration policy. The situation only seems to have worsened since then. I hope this project will bring a fresh viewpoint to the current events and a space for us to envision the border in different settings.  

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