Artist Tom Kiefer created a photographic project called “El Sueño Americano” (The American Dream) featuring personal items that were confiscated and disposed of from migrants crossing the U.S. border. Juliet Di Preta | The Crow’s Nest
By Juliet Di Preta
A toy whistle, children’s toothbrushes, medications, Bibles, rosary beads.
These are just some of the everyday and deeply personal items then-janitor Tom Kiefer found while rummaging through years of dumpsters’ worth of intimate objects confiscated from undocumented migrants.
Kiefer was working at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing facility in Ajo, Arizona, for four years when he began to take notice of what CBP agents were deeming “non-essential” or “potentially lethal” items: baby shoes, a sweatshirt and keys.
The result is “El Sueño Americano” (The American Dream), a photographic project that showcases these personal, storied items that Kiefer, in good conscience, couldn’t let remain buried in garbage.
“I think, for me, to see these objects thrown away like trash, just felt wrong. The wallets with personal identification and credit cards still intact, the medications, toy cars, rosary beads, Bibles, and other religious artifacts, they just seemed too important to be at the bottom of a dumpster,” Kiefer said in a press release.
Not yet knowing what he was going to do with them, he began taking the objects home, creating a stockpile.
“But then the art began to unfold, and it felt like these confiscated, discarded belongings were telling deeply personal and heartbreaking stories about the people crossing our borders,” Kiefer said in the release.
This project that launched Kiefer into fame is currently on display at ArtsXchange, 515 22nd St.
There you will find 68 of Kiefer’s photographs lining the walls, telling the chilling stories of the people who were either detained or deported and the choices they had to make to continue their journey.
On the wall, beneath two rows of photographs, is a quote from Kiefer, which offers insight into his thoughts behind the project. It reads: “I’m presenting these deeply personal objects in a way that is reverential and respectful.”
Diane Morton, executive director of ArtsXchange, worked tirelessly to bring the thought-provoking and nationally acclaimed exhibit to the Tampa Bay community. She believes certain works of art are so compelling that once seen, they alter your perspective and remain in your conscious long after viewed.
“The photography in Tom’s ‘El Sueño Americano’ exhibit lingers and asks the viewer to pause for contemplation on the human experience behind the word ‘immigrant,’” Morton said.
Kiefer hopes his project may offer another side to the stories and news coverage about immigrants who come to the U.S.
“El Sueño Americano” is on display at the ArtsXChange until Nov. 5. The gallery is open Thursday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $10.
