Extraordinary at the U.S.-Mexico border: artists let children play divided by the wall with swings across it

Images of the installation that U.S. architect Ronald Rael and designer Virginia San Fratello have placed on the U.S.-Mexico border to bring children divided by the barrier between the two states closer together have gone around the world. Near El Paso, a Texas city on the border (which divides it from Ciudad Juárez in Mexico), Rael, a professor of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and San Fratello, a design associate at San José State University, have placed a series of pink swings across the barrier, allowing Mexican and U.S. children (as well as adults, as seen in the photos released by Rael) to mount on them to play, heedless of the barrier that divides them: in short, the art physically united the children separated by the wall, allowing them to play, unconcerned about their differences.

Rael came up with this idea as early as 10 years ago, but only managed to realize his work, titled Teetertotter Wall, in the last few hours, and then posted it on his Instagram account. “One of the most incredible experiences in my and Virginia’s career,” Rael wrote, "was bringing the conceptual drawings of Teetertotter Wall from 2009 to life in an event that brought joy, excitement, and happiness to being together at the wall on the border." Not only that, the work also has allegorical significance. “The wall,” Rael further explained, “has literally become the centerpiece of U.S.-Mexico relations, and the children and adults have been meaningfully connected on both sides reminders that actions that take place on either side have direct consequences on the other.”

As is well known, the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is one of President Donald Trump’s policy workhorses: at the moment, there are already barriers scattered along part of the border, and the president’s intent would be to build a real wall (presumably by strengthening existing separation systems) along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. Some of the recent measures that U.S. authorities have taken on immigration policy (including the much-discussed separation of children from their parents) are among the most debated, not only in the country.However, the harshness of these measures now seems to be melting in the face of the lightheartedness evoked by the swings. And many have already hastened to call Rael and San Fratello’s intervention “magical.” That it had the merit of uniting where one is divided.

Here are some of the photos Rael posted on his Instagram account (where you can also find videos capturing it all).

Rael and San Fratello’s swings at the US-Mexico border.

Rael and San Fratello’s swings at the US-Mexico border

Rael and San Fratello’s swings at the U.S.-Mexico border

Rael and San Fratello’s swings at the U.S.-Mexico border

Rael and San Fratello’s swings at the US-Mexico border.

Extraordinary at the U.S.-Mexico border: artists let children play divided by the wall with swings across it

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