Photo exhibit focuses on teen immigrants

• By ROBIN MILLER
• Arts writer
• Published: Nov 8, 2009

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If Marcial Romos still lived in Cuba, he would probably be in jail.

Think about it. Jail at 16 just for being an artist.

Just for believing in freedom of expression.

“I feel that is most important for an artist to have freedom of expression,” Romos said.

That’s not to be found in Cuba. Not for an artist. Not for Romos.

But Sohale Mehrmanesh has a different concern.

“After the terrible events at the World Trade Center, I was afraid all Arab people would be suspected of terrorism,” he said.

Mehrmanesh was 16 when he said this. His parents left Iran for the United States after the country’s revolution so they could practice their Bahai faith.

Now, his story isn’t unique. There are so many others with similar experiences to his — to Romos’ — in the United States.

And many of them are documented in the exhibit Becoming American: Teenagers & Immigration, Photographs by Barbara Beirne.

The show was developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and runs through Nov. 29 at the West Baton Rouge Museum.

“The exhibit focuses on teenagers,” Lauren Davis said. “Barbara Beirne is a photographer, and she started putting this together after the 9-11 attacks. She started delving in the lives of these teenagers, and she got their stories.”

Davis is the museum’s curator. She installed this exhibit in September, and the museum has hosted activities connected to it. The biggest event, though, will take place on Sunday, Nov. 22, when the museum stages Culture Shock: A Festival.