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From the name, the logo, and even the host who wears a doctor’s coat in front of an optometrist’s letter chart, the theme of the MIRAAA Media Fest is eyes. More specifically, it’s about drawing the public eye on the works of Rio Grande Valley artists, as they share under-represented border narratives through collaboration and experimentation.

This Saturday, the works of over 20 local artists, filmmakers, and musicians will be featured in the livestreamed virtual festival, with the goal of not only giving visibility to the creatives and the community, but also to set a precedent for the future of local art and events. “We’re trying to redefine what sort of things can happen in the valley, and dissolve the idea that something like a media festival is only a big city thing,” says Andres Sanchez, one of the organizers of the event.

The team behind MIRAAA is highly involved in art and community. Andres Sanchez is a multimedia designer and did curation and design for the event. C Diaz is a filmmaker, colorist, and incubator liaison who contributed production. Natalia Rocafuerte is an experimental video artist who contributed web design and production. Josue Ramirez is a multidisciplinary artist and community advocate who contributed curation and production, as well as provide a grant from Trucha that funded the festival’s commissions.

Along with the livestream, MIRAAA was also going to be an in-person event taking place at the McAllen Creative Incubator, but was cancelled as COVID-19 cases increased locally and the festival’s potential audience grew. However, the festival’s team invested into the virtual event to make it more engaging for the audience. “We leaned in hard for the virtual festival. People need something to look forward to. We wanted to make it feel more tangible,” says Sanchez.

For those who RSVP on the MIRAAA webiste and show up at the McAllen Creative Incubator on Saturday between noon and 2 p.m. will receive one of their 100 “watch kits” available on a first come first serve basis, which includes a shirt, buttons, program magazine, and more. There will be a virtual afterparty with a DJ set by Rizu X, and viewers will also get to vote for their favorite works at the end of the night for various categories, which awards the artists different prizes, including:

Breakthrough Short Film - One year subscription to Mubi (film streaming service)
Best Collaboration - A write-up in Hyperreal Film Club
Best Bumper - A feature in Trucha (RGV multimedia and activist platform)
Breakthrough Non-binary/Femme Visual Artist - A membership to Future Front Texas (Austin nonprofit for women and queer creatives
There will also be a raffle for $50 at Tropicasa and $50 at Bandera Coffee awarded to voters.

Clarrissa Sifuentes is an artist who made adjustments as well. She is a UTRGV student who made installation art for the festival, which is made up of a mannequin, a coat, and a large paper mache head, but what will be shown will be slightly scaled back due to the festival changes. She has high hopes for Saturday and appreciates being a part of the RGV art community. “I hope everyone enjoys the show. We’re all really close and support each other,” she says.

One of the collaboration projects is a song by Valley Swerve and Italia, two music projects known for their Japanese anime and kawaii aesthetics. Andres Sanchez encouraged the collaboration, as not only do their niches blend well, but also because of their online success through Spotify and Tik Tok. “They’re popular on the internet, but locally, they might not get the flowers they deserve, so that’s why I thought it would be great to feature them,” Sanchez says. The making of the song was a speedy process and is in a “future funk” style inspired by disco and vaporwave. The accompanying video contains footage of McAllen, Austin, South Padre Island, and Brownsville. They have released a preview of the song, called “Lady Moon,” on their Instagram page (listen below).

The rollout of the event has been notably calculated. The MIRAA Instagram account began promoting in early June, sparsely uploading photos for two months to reveal the growing list of participants, with all of it connected through color, logo, and theme. This week, leading up to Saturday, there have been IG Live interviews of select participants, with the videos archived for those who missed them. The reach of the promotional campaign has been more successful than the organizers anticipated. “The response has been overwhelming. There could have easily been 200 people packed into one place,” Sanchez says. “We got an email from Germany like ‘what is going on down there?!’ because this person is from the ‘nothing happens in the valley’ era.”

It can’t be said for sure that MIRAAA will be an annual event. However, due to the overflow of artists interested in participating, there is an open registry on the website that allows artists to introduce themselves and their work to the organizers, who can then connect them with other artists, and possibly feature their work in next year’s potential event. Sanchez chose participants himself, but may not be a curator next time. “I have a Rolodex in my head of which artists do what, so I had an idea of who I wanted to reach out to,” he says. “Next year, I’m not interested in doing it myself. I don’t want things to be perceived as clique-y. I don’t want the same person doing the curating. I want to pass the torch.”

The MIRAAA Media Fest livestream begins at 7 p.m. Saturday on Youtube and Twitch, and will be archived temporarily on Youtube. RSVP at miraaamediafest.net

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