International Arrivals speaks with interdisciplinary artist Miguel Alejandro Castillo (Venezuela/USA) (https://www.instagram.com/love.entirely) about his journey to the US to study dance and his work as a choreographer, dancer, and director. Castillo addresses the impact of immigration on his identity, his body, and the challenges of navigating bureaucratic language. He discusses loud and clear, a performance piece he created with Daniel de Barrito and visual artist Lexi Hota which explores the Venezuelan diaspora through folkloric elements and masks. He reflects on how his performances serve as an archive for diasporic experiences and his own memories.

Castillo was recently awarded the winner of The Juilliard School's Marcus Directing Fellowship for 2025-26.

International Arrivals speaks with Filipino American artist duo Abang-guard, Maureen Catbagan and Jevijoe Vitug (Phillipines/USA) (https://maureencatbagan.com/) about their current exhibition, Makibaka, at the Queens Museum in which they use the 1964-65 New York World's Fair's Philippines and New York State Pavilions as an entrance for talking about the importance of 1965 for Filipino American labor history. They emphasize the importance of community archives and the interplay between institutional critique and personal narratives, aiming to reclaim and reframe Filipino American history. Their work reconsiders the importance of monuments, Little Manila(s), The Delano grape strike, and pays homage to the bridge generation who came to find their American dream.

The title of their exhibition, Makibaka, is a rallying cry: fight to live, live to fight, dare to struggle, dare to win. It's a slogan that resistance and protest movements used against the Marcos dictatorship and martial law during the 70s and 80s and has become the regular rallying cry of Filipino activists fighting against oppressive systems, both in the Philippines and abroad.

International Arrivals speaks with Rah Eleh (Iran/Canada)(https://www.rah-eleh.com/), about her multi-channel and immersive video work that critiques gender, nationhood, and ethnic identity. Rah discusses her use of parody, game shows, dance, and her characters—Orion, Fatima, and Coco—who explore themes of whiteness, nationalism, and queer identity.