The World Around in Focus: Land

Through Art History, the representation of the land has been one of the main topics to take the artists attention. In some way, to approach to certain territories and geographies from the art is a way to understand how the nature and landscapes plays a key role in different social, cultural and economical problematics suchs as: identity, colonialism, extractivism, global warming, violence, among others. In this context, next Friday October 22, the Guggenheim Museum will host an special public program (in English) completely devoted to reflect on the complexity of the land.

This online public program focuses on artists, researchers, designers, and architects whose work makes visible the often invisible infrastructures and systems that are transforming lives and territories across the Americas today. Featuring commissioned films and live conversation, the event presents long-term projects and in-process research, artworks and activism that address the complex post-colonial issues of land use in the twenty-first century, and shares campaigns and designs for a more equitable future. Participants include environmental activists focused on #landback, indigenous food sovereignty, and water equity; filmmakers and artists interrogating literal and metaphorical mining for digital currencies; and climate leaders with visionary ideas for a geoengineered future, such as olly Jean Buck, author and environmental and social scientist; Carolina Caycedo and David de Rozas, artists; Simon Denny, artist; Elizabeth Hoover, author and academic; Renee Kemp-Rotan, urban designer and initiator of Africatown International Design Idea Competition; and Joseph Kunkel, Executive Director of Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab at MASS Design Group.

In 2021, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum welcomed a yearlong residency for The World Around, a new, itinerant nonprofit organization dedicated to telling contemporary architecture’s most critical and inspiring stories. Combining the Guggenheim’s contribution to architectural history through its constellation of iconic museums and The World Around’s agile and interdisciplinary approach to architecture’s future, the residency is a collaborative programming partnership that will focus on design’s profound role in social, environmental, and spatial justice.

The World Around looks beyond buildings to investigate the often-invisible forces that shape our lives, homes, cities, and landscapes. From discussing urgent issues of the climate crisis with anthropologists and artists to examining global vernacular construction, or highlighting the racial inequalities manifest in the built environment, this residency explores the many different spheres—real, imaginary, and symbolic—of contemporary architectural practice today and champions its most significant practitioners to a broad public.

Using a range of formats, including public programs, commissioned films, curated conversations, social media takeovers and hybrid online events and experiences, The World Around invites ongoing exploration of architecture’s “now, near, and next.” The full program will be broadcast on the museum’s YouTube channel.