What Dwells in Casa de Luz
摘要
What Dwells in Casa de Luz is a story that immerses us in the depths of a collective experience and gives life to a unique refuge called Casa-Colectiva Casa de Luz. Created by and for migrant members of the LGBTQ + community and located in the city of Tijuana, at the border between Mexico and the United States, the Casa Colectiva exists in two dimensions: the social dimension—where all kinds of human relationships reside, though invisible to our eyes—and the physical, tangible dimension of everyday life. The origins of this house are steeped in intertwined relationships of violence and solidarity, which are transmuted into hope. At its foundation lies the collective experience of death, disappearance, discrimination, solidarity, and kinship during the first mass caravans of undocumented and displaced migrants in 2018 and 2019—traveling from Central America to the United States—and their settlement in the city of Tijuana. The experiences of four trans women and the launch of a mobile collective kitchen, within this context, lay bare the whirlwind of relationships formed in that ghostly social dimension that extends its roots into our daily lives. Thus, Casa de Luz emerges as a living being, nourished by all kinds of relationships, and in our physical dimension, the house—both livable and lived-in—is a symbol of hope and solidarity.