A photo exhibition about the Mexican Repatriation of the 1930’s marks this weekend’s opening of a new Boyle Heights Museum at Casa 0101 Theater.
Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos (We Are Here and We Won’t Leave) opens Sunday at the theater’s gallery –the online museum’s temporary home. The show highlights how both Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans in Boyle Heights fought against the forced repatriation, an official campaign of relocation which removed about a third of Los Angeles’ Mexican-born population.
The exhibition can already be seen at the online museum, which launched its website this month.
The museum is a collaboration between the theater and the USC Center for Diversity and Democracy. It’s mission is “to preserve and celebrate the rich and important immigrant histories of the Boyle Height community so that all residents, including young people, will be inspired to join us in preserving this history for future generations,” according to the website.
The next exhibition in March will focus on the 1968 East Los Angeles student Walk Outs and will coincide with a show at Casa 0101 to mark the historic event’s 50th anniversary.
Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos opens Sunday October 1 and can be seen Monday to Friday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., through December 3. The gallery is free and open to the public. Casa 0101 is at 2102 East 1st Street.
For Sunday’s opening, USC Professor George Sánchez will lead a discussion on the effects of repatriation in Boyle Heights. Musical group La Victoria will perform and a reception will follow.
Sunday’s opening from 1 to 3 pm is free and open to the public but RSVP is required.
