– Photos by Bobbie Toner

On July 20 and 21, the city of Somerville presented one of the area’s largest and most innovative arts festivals, complete with two stages of music with over a dozen bands, dance troupes, 75 craft vendors, food and migration-themed activities.

Migration evokes many ideas: movement, immigration, Monarch butterflies fluttering en masse and New England snowbirds heading to Florida’s balmy shores. Artists were encouraged to explore migration in various ways. Visual artists examined how forms morph and move—like atoms within a molecule, for example. Dancers explored flight patterns of migratory birds. Other ideas included an interactive map project in which Somervillians trace their migratory route to Somerville. The migration theme was also explored from environmental, geo-political and inter-galactic angles.

Video by Sanjeev Selvarajah