Ethnos

Ethnos showcases the intimate portraits of folk, people, and nations that some of the approximately 170,000 of our Rhode Island neighbors know well as their countries of origin. Immigrants make up almost 14 percent of our state’s population, and they contribute nearly $2.6 billion per year in total spending power in Rhode Island. Rhode Island also is home to approximately 26,000 undocumented immigrants, the vast majority of whom are of working age; these same undocumented immigrants have started more than 900 businesses in our state. This exhibit celebrates our immigrants to Rhode Island by providing a close and intimate view of children, parents, and elders from a small selection of the many parts of the world they look back to as their first homes. These images were captured over a 12-year period in Central America (Belize), in South America (Ecuador), and in India (Rajasthan).