Ajo Arizona

“Beyond Borders” was a project commissioned by the International Sonoran Desert Alliance, in Ajo AZ. “ISDA is an alliance of peoples from three Nations: the Tohono O’odham Nation, Mexico and the United States. ISDA is committed to fostering communication, understanding and cooperation among the richly diverse cultures in their region. Their intention is to preserve and enrich heritage in a way that transcends borders and boundaries”.

ISDA is headquartered in Ajo AZ, a small desert town, about 30 minutes North of the Mexican Border, and an hour West of the Tohono O’odham village of Pisinimo. Recent political and cultural tensions around the border has done great harm to the connections the broader community has that transcend the border. The disruption caused to families, schools and other cultural institutions during a recent border closing only elucidated the reality of the broader community’s need and dependence upon these connections.

Therefore, in the current atmosphere of growing nativism and nationalism, Christopher Lutter, in collaboration with ISDA staff, conceived-of and led a community-arts project that drew the 3 nations that share the Sonoran biome together into a spectacle-scale expression of their common humanity. Each cultural center was guided in the creation of their very own representative, in 12ft-tall puppet form. Each of the 3 sites engaged in community-group processes, to brainstorm, design and build the pieces. The project culminated in a performance-on-landscape of the 3 completed puppets meeting in the desert (at Organ Pipe National Monument Visitor Center) and performing a circle dance among the cactuses, with butterflies puppets (on sticks) in attendance.

The goal of the project was to demonstrate, in artistic form, our intention to stay connected and to “dance together”, even as politicians and xenophobes work to divide us.