“Telephone/Telefono,” 2006, by Mike Rogers, a border intervention in Calexico, California. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial  

A man stands on a ladder overlooking a metal border wall

A still from a recording of the performance of “Raspado (Abolish ICE/Abolir ICE),” 2020, by Annabel Turrado. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Stefany Turrado

Outdoors a person stands over a table in front of two large cactus plants

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If no one’s putting you into a show, put yourself into a show... You have agency, you have power, you have the opportunity.

Selections from “Land of Milk & Honey”

Attendees in 2022 at The Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History standing before “Sangre Sudor y Amor: Hunger for the American dream,” 2018, by Janet Diaz. Photo: Daris Jasper, Culture Saving

Gallery visitors mingle in an art space where large-scale artworks are displayed on the walls

“Three of Cups,” 2023, by Edgar Fabián Frías. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

In an art piece, a table is set with organic objects including food and stones and a colorful pattern

“FLOAT FOR RECLAMATION: Limit of Your Safe Space Iteration II,” 2023, by Shinpei Takeda. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

In an artwork, a large digital screen is sandwiched between two makeshift rafts

“Oranges + Brown Labor,” 2022, by William Camargo. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

Two framed photographs hang on a wall showing a metal fence up close and a hand holding a card that reads, ”Cheap Brown Labor“

”The Lost Garden of Mondrian,“ 2021-2022, by Albert Lopez, Jr. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

A large colorful work of art is made of large geometric shapes that are illuminated and sit atop large buckets

“Liquid Light,” 2022, by Camilo Ontiveros and Javier Tapia. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Camilo Ontiveros

Two people stand in a room that is darkened but illuminated by a screen that shows a barren landscape

“Comic Corrido de Tamales el primo,” 2023, by Ruben Ochoa. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

A pushcart is painted with colorful graphics and has a large open umbrella sticking out of it

“Homesign (An Ode to Diane Alejo Sorondo),” 2018, by Boo Alejo Sorondo. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

In an art installation, an image of two figures close up hangs above an alter that is adorned with food and ferns

“Transborder Game,” 2010, by Homeless Collective (Cristian Franco and Felipe Manzano), a happening that inspired several young Latinx artists and curators to develop long-standing relationships with the organization. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

Seven people dressed in team jerseys and shorts stand facing a wall

“Transborder Game,” 2010, by Homeless Collective (Cristian Franco and Felipe Manzano), a soccer performance that took place on the border between Calexico, California, and Mexicali, Mexico, for the 2009-10 Anti-Biennial exhibit. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

In a view from above, two groups of people are standing on either side of a dividing wall that bisects the image

Craving a platform to show the work of their once-ignored contemporaries, the MexiCali Biennial has gathered a community of bi-national creators recontextualizing what it means to live on the edge.

The MexiCali Biennial

“Red Flag/Bandera Roja,” 2013, by Veronica Duarte. Photo courtesy of MexiCali Biennial by Ed Gomez

An extra long Mexican flag hanging from a holder on a white wall inside of a gallery space

OpenGraph Mexicali

A Moveable Feast That’s Transforming Boundaries 

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Borderlands Cultures

In portrait orientation, an aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 

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