SAN DIEGO, CA .- The exhibition, La Frontera, explores the complexity of the U.S.–Mexico border as a physical reality, geopolitical construction and state of being through the medium of jewelry – an object repeatedly used for communication throughout human history. Mingei International Museum presents this traveling exhibition in conjunction with a concurrent La Frontera exhibition at CECUT- Centro Cultural Tijuana.

At Mingei, La Frontera features over 85 works from contemporary jewelry artists from diverse backgrounds, including 24 artists who were born, raised, live or work along the U.S.–Mexico border region. Expanding on traditional jewelry forms, materials and function each artist redefines jewelry itself as they explore the symbolic and material significance of the borderlands and the stories they tell of geography, existence and desire. Exquisitely crafted, these objects are mementos of journey and place. They are stories that are worn.

Mingei’s Venue Curator Ariana Torres shares, “The contemporary jewelry exhibition, La Frontera, at Mingei International Museum shows how the artform is constantly being redefined by artists responding to current issues and as a medium to tell their own stories of personal identity and place.”

Worn to adorn the body visibly, jewelry is inherently performative. As personal tokens, these objects are suggestive of often unknown aspects of the person who wears them. In this exhibition jewelry becomes a personal platform to explore themes such as home, migration, landscape and identity.

La Frontera brings together jewelry and craft artists from the U.S., Mexico and other countries across the world to reflect upon the border and the effects beyond its boundaries. Also included among the list of international artists are local jewelry designers and artists, Diana Benavidez, Georgina Treviño, Maru Lopez, Kerianne Quick, Sondra Sherman, Tanya Aguiñiga (from SD but lives in LA), Nance Rodríguez, Leslie Shershow and William Austin (born in SD but currently in Amsterdam).

Originally curated in 2013 by Mike Holmes and Lorena Lazard, La Frontera was redeveloped in 2023 by the curators, Holmes and Lazard, with assistance from Secret Identity Projects co-founders, Jess Tolbert and Kerianne Quick. The exhibition travels to Mingei and CECUT from its opening at the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts in El Paso, Texas, and the Centro Cultural de las Fronteras at Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua in 2023.

MINGEI INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM

Located in San Diego’s Balboa Park, Mingei International Museum collects, preserves and exhibits folk art, craft and design from all eras and cultures of the world. Within a newly reopened facility that includes an education center, theater, shop, restaurant and plenty of free, accessible public space, the Museum offers inspiring exhibitions and diverse community and educational programs to more than 100,000 visitors a year. As the presenter of San Diego Design Week and a partner to over 50 local artists and art and cultural organizations, Mingei puts celebrating creativity at the core of its mission through workshops, film festivals, lectures and more. Mingei is a nonprofit institution funded by admission, individuals, and institutional support.

CECUT

CECUT is a national Mexican cultural center on the border, founded on October 20, 1982. It is the institution that concentrates the widest and most diverse cultural offerings in the northwest region, and the only infrastructure of the Mexico Ministry of Culture outside the country's capital. It is committed to meeting the artistic and cultural needs of this population, through programs that include various artistic manifestations and themes of traditional and contemporary culture.