A community art project at Stanford University is inviting people to share their immigration stories through handmade bookmarks during a time of heightened anxiety over the federal government’s immigration crackdown.
The “Bookmark Stories” project encourages people to draw or write on blank bookmarks to tell the story of how they immigrated to the United States.
The program debuted April 30 at libraries across the Stanford campus. Organizers would like to expand it to other libraries and the broader community.
The project is the brainchild of Dr. Bryant Lin, a clinical professor of medicine and director of medical humanities and the arts at Stanford.
“That bookmark is really a great metaphor for the experiences of immigrants when they’re coming to the U.S., and they’re putting a place keeper in their lives while they immigrate,” Lin said. “And also it’s a time to reflect on their experiences in the past and in the future.”
One participant, Mani Farhadi, is a senior planner at Stanford Medicine whose part-Persian, part-American family is distressed by the conflict in Iran. Her bookmark features a short poem and a drawing of Khorshid Khanoom, Persian for Lady Sunshine:
Grateful for ancestors
from Iran and America.
Centuries of migration,
In a state of constant travel.
Uprooting and restarting,
Building a better life.
Each day a new beginning,
Seeking sunshine’s energy.
Remembering their heritage.
The artwork and artists’ stories are featured at bookmarkstories.org. People are encouraged to submit their own artistic bookmarks on the website.
Support for this reporting was provided by the philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York.
