At first glance, Xavier Tavera’s photographs evoke a calm Midwest landscape of windswept prairie grasses and frozen lakes. Look closer and embedded images disrupt the calm — a protester mid-scream, youth in floral masks and a whistle inscribed with the words “Ice Out.”
Across the Twin Cities this weekend, visual art, poetry and opera are unearthing “unsettled” histories at a time of scrutiny regarding land rights, immigrant identity and the archival gaps in the American story.
“I think we can do a little bit of reflection of who we are, belonging to this land, or not belonging to this land. Who gets to say? We’re still standing on stolen land and this sense of ownership is still kind of strange to a lot of us,” Tavera said.
Minnesota land meets community resistance
At Minneapolis’ Cruise gallery, Mexican photographer Xavier Tavera moves away from his signature portraiture of cowboys and veterans to explore the tension between land and the communities resisting heightened immigration enforcement…