Anne Katrine Senstad
The River of Migration, 2009 - 2019
Video projection
Single Channel HDV
Single Channel HDV
16:9/1920x1080
AKS0047
Copyright The Artist
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The first incarnation of Anne Katrine Senstad's memorial piece, The River of Migration, existed
as a large outdoor light and land installation at Life is Art Foundation in 2010. The piece
consisted of 72 solar-powered lights placed along a mountainside in Santa Rosa, CA. They
formed a symbolic “human river” on what was historically Mexican land. Each of the 72 lights
refers to a specific case where a person was brutally massacred by cartels after refusing to be
used as a drug trafficker. Using light to create a memorial, Senstad illuminated the urgent
migration issue with her symbolic river of light. The project honored the 72 nameless souls who
died during the migration process and simultaneously spoke for all victims of migratory violence.
The solar panel lights were lit from dusk till dawn, when most people cross borders illegally, and
illustrated the very nature of the migratory action. The lights created a geographical mapping of
the California landscape and served as a gestural, lyrical, and critical comment on migration
policies, border wall politics, and the intensifying climate and political refugee crisis. Unnatural
deaths of migrants are intimately connected to climate change and resource enclosures fueled
by the growth of global wealth inequality. It is critical to revisit this work today as it raises
awareness of the new, and more elaborate, forms of human trafficking as a global business as
well as the financial structures on which it capitalizes.
The first incarnation of Anne Katrine Senstad's memorial piece, The River of Migration, existedas a large outdoor light and land installation at Life is Art Foundation in 2010. The piececonsisted of 72 solar-powered lights placed along a mountainside in Santa Rosa, CA. Theyformed a symbolic “human river” on what was historically Mexican land. Each of the 72 lightsrefers to a specific case where a person was brutally massacred by cartels after refusing to beused as a drug trafficker. Using light to create a memorial, Senstad illuminated the urgentmigration issue with her symbolic river of light. The project honored the 72 nameless souls whodied during the migration process and simultaneously spoke for all victims of migratory violence.The solar panel lights were lit from dusk till dawn, when most people cross borders illegally, andillustrated the very nature of the migratory action. The lights created a geographical mapping ofthe California landscape and served as a gestural, lyrical, and critical comment on migrationpolicies, border wall politics, and the intensifying climate and political refugee crisis. Unnaturaldeaths of migrants are intimately connected to climate change and resource enclosures fueledby the growth of global wealth inequality. It is critical to revisit this work today as it raisesawareness of the new, and more elaborate, forms of human trafficking as a global business aswell as the financial structures on which it capitalizes.