Escape to Beijing: Tijuana Artists Explore China Ties Kate Kilpatrick - Al Jazeera
go to original August 19, 2014

Mely Barragán and Daniel Ruanova (Diana Coca/TJ in China)

Like much of life along Mexico’s northern edge, border art is often defined by its relationship to the U.S.

“I have an inherent need to create bridges, to reach,” said Patricia Ruiz Bayon, a prominent performance artist in Matamoros, Mexico, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas. “Probably because I have always been at the edge of division.”

But Tijuana artists and partners Mely Barragán and Daniel Ruanova, who grew up on the border, got tired of always looking north.

Although Barragán is a legal resident of the U.S. and Ruanova has dual citizenship, they’ve never been able to build a sustainable relationship with the arts community in the U.S.

“It’s always on their terms,” Barragán said of the contacts and visits over the years.

So four years ago they decided to explore in a different direction and immigrated to China. It was a move that has sparked a seemingly unlikely cross-cultural artistic link.

The goal, Ruanova said, was to build new ties so Tijuana artists can “expand the idea of border and create different exit-entry points to TJ instead of being monogamous to the USA.” (“TJ” is how many Tijuana natives refer to their hometown.)

But there was another reason. “It was the furthest and most civilized place we could find that was really, really far away from Mexico and from what we were trying to not think about,” said Ruanova.

Read the rest at Al Jazeera

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