PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A large wall map of the U.S. Mexico border with thousands of toe tags pinned to it will be on display at Portland State University.
According to PSU, the school’s anthropology department collaborated with the Undocumented Migration Project for the Hostile Terrain 94 exhibit.
The participatory art installation is composed of 3,200 handwritten toe tags that represent migrants who have died “during the crossing due to inhumane border policies between 1994 and present day,” the university said.
According to the school, volunteers have spent hours filling out these tags by hand — each one including the name, age, sex, cause of death, condition of body and location of recovery for each person.
“The tags are then pinned to a wall map in the exact location where those individuals were found,” their press release stated.
A Mexican ofrenda — also known as an altar– will be built to remember all those who have died.
The exhibit will be open on Wednesday, April 20 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at PSU’s White Gallery on the second floor of the Smith Memorial Student Union. It will be in place through June 15.