WELCOME TO INTIPUCA CITY
Anita Pouchard Serra
Visual storyteller and photojournalist
based in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Welcome to Intipucá City is a collaborative transmedia documentary project that uses images, drawings, and words to reconfigure the imagery of Salvadoran migration to Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Through past and present stories, it seeks to change the stigmatized image of Central American migrants by showing the complexity of transnational identities through life stories that present a trans-territory link between El Salvador and the United States.Collective project with Koral Carballo and Jessica Avalos
Supported by
Moving Walls 25/Open Society Foundations
ADELANTE program / IWMF
We Women grant/ Photovile & Women Photograph
YES Contemporary Grant
Supported by
Moving Walls 25/Open Society Foundations
ADELANTE program / IWMF
We Women grant/ Photovile & Women Photograph
YES Contemporary Grant
At Hugo Salinas and his uncle Alcides Andrade house. The liberty statue has been brought from the US. El Salvador, Intipuca - September 2017
Claudia Rivera, doctor at her work in Santiago de Maria. She is the director of the hospital. And came back to El Salvador after growing up in the US. Claudia Rivera left Intipucá as a child because of the 1980s war in El Salvador. She began a life in Maryland in Washington with her parents and brothers, however after graduating as a doctor and her children grew up she decided to return to El Salvador in order to help the health development of her people. (Right) Family tree hanmade by the protagonist. In red, people's name who live in the US and in blue, the ones who live in El Salvador.. Santiago de Maria, El Salvador - February 28, 2019.
Abigail, living in the US with Vitelia, her sister living in Intipuca. Intipuca, 2019.
Abigail, Claudia's mother. Intipuca, 2019.
Amy, who's family live in the US: Intipuca, 2019.
Mila and her familiy in front of her house in Virginia. US, 2019.
Trinidad Chavez in the courtyard of his childhood house in Intipuca. He lives in the US for many years, and almost all his family is there. He came for the Intipuca Fest with his sons.Family tree hanmade by the protagonist. In red, people's name who live in the US and in blue, the ones who live in El Salvador. February/March 2019. Intipuca, El Salvador.
Ludwin Navarrete, 38 years old. His brothers are all in the US, but he never desired to move there. He beleive on his land and on the work in can do here. Here, he is posing in his farm. Family tree hanmade by the protagonist. In red, people's name who live in the US and in blue, the ones who live in El Salvador. February/March 2019. Intipuca, El Salvador.
The one who left, never comes back.
SULMA ESCOBAR, 30 years old Her mother migrated when she was four. He hasn't seen her since. "When your mother leaves for the United States, you are treated very badly here, because you become the sidekick," says Sulma, who owns a beauty parlor in downtown Intipucá. She doesn't aspire to live in another country. She wants to stay and grow her business. "I want to go to the United States to meet my mom, but not to stay because I want to generate more jobs here," she says. The protagonists of the project drew their family tree. In blue, the names of their relatives living in El Salvador. In red, the names of their relatives living in the United States.
Inside Alfredo daughter's house, empty, in INtipuca. She lives in the US. Intipuca, 2019.
OMAR BLANCO, 55 years old He fled the war in El Salvador in July 1980. He was 14 years old at the time. He spent all his youth in the United States, and was deported in August 1992, when he had already had a daughter in this country and now in Intipuca meanwhile all his family stayed in the US. The protagonists of the project drew their family tree. In blue, the names of their relatives living in El Salvador. In red, the names of their relatives living in the United States.
Doble analogic exposure, mixing Intipuca and DC area.
On the left, view from Virginia, the US. On the right, view of an interoir of a house in Intipuca.
Doble analogic exposure, mixing Intipuca and DC area.
Rocibel house in DC
Tia Maria, a famous Salvadorian Youtuber in the US during a collective picture of the Ambassadors, a group of Intipuqueños in the US who work to help and fund projects in Intipuca. Intipuca, El Salvador - March 2019.
Pupils from the local schools are waiting for the school bag they will receive from the ambassadors USA-Intipuca. Intipuca, 2020
Pupils from the local schools are waiting for the school bag they will receive from the ambassadors USA-Intipuca. Intipuca, 2020
A group of children during a parade of queens of Intipucá-USA - March 6, 2019.
Rocibel in her beach house in Intipuca. 2020
American Dream? We had instead, a salvadorian dream. Don Jacinto. 2019. Intipuca
View of traditional Intipuca's house from a big wheel, installed during the Intipuca Fest. Intipuca, El Salvador - March 6, 2019.
View of ABigail and Jacinto's beach house, Claudia's fathers. Intipuca, 2019.
Manfredo Mejia, restaurant in Virginia.
Jacinto, claudia's father in his beach house. Intipuca, 2019.
Part of the American Dream is to go back to El Salvador. US, 2019.
Rocibel in Washington. 2019
Model of Rosibel'house in Intipuca. Maryland, 2019.
BLANCA NERIS CHAVEZ, 65 years old "I came back to be my own boss," says Blanca Neris, who worked for a long time in the United States and returned to retire as a beach hotel owner. After 15 years in the United States, Blanca now runs a business providing employment opportunities to local young people.
Public Project
WELCOME TO INTIPUCA CITY
2,168