ABSTRACT
The display of art created out of basic materials in a site of detention shifted the emphasis from the negative aspects of the men’s entry to the USA to a view that recognized the value of cultural exchange. The process of creating the exhibition and having the work on display also encouraged several men to continue as artists. In his scholarship, Westerman used “method as a performative tool” to expose the injustices of detentions of indeterminate length. As he translated a small, local exhibition into a larger display and later a traveling exhibition, he modeled collaborative practices that enacted his theory about what a museum should be and, more importantly, whom it should serve.
