Distance Unknown
Biennale di Venezia ExhibitionTeam and Partners
- MIT’s Civic Data Design Lab
- United Nations World Food Programme
Migration is fraught with unknown distances—how far, costly, and mentally and physically straining the journey will be for migrants as they leave their home, country, and loved ones. Migrants face numerous risks and opportunities, yet it is evident that migration is not a choice; food insecurity drives migration, migration costs are high, and it benefits both the countries of origin and the new destinations.
Distance Unknown is an exhibition based on data collected from 4,998 households surveyed by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in 2021, and 2,109 migrants from 43 countries interviewed at four border locations: Colombia, at the border of Panama’s Darien Jungle, Honduras, and Guatemala in 2022, as they journey to Mexico and the United States. An interactive map allows visitors to explore their journeys and the obstacles they face along the way. The motivations of Central American migrants are woven into a tapestry of "migrant money," with each bill explaining insights from the data. The information in the "migrant money" is sourced from the report titled "Charting a New Regional Course of Action: The Complex Motivations and Costs of Central American Migration," co-authored by the UN World Food Programme, the Migration Policy Institute, and the Civic Data Design Lab at MIT (CDDL).