NRO artists Jackson Polys, Adam Khalil ’11, and Zack Khalil ’14, and Creative Time curator Diya Vij ’08. Image courtesy the collective
“Give it back.” These are the first words seen by visitors to
The World’s UnFair, the newest multimedia work by New Red Order (NRO), a “public secret society” cofounded by brothers and Bard alumni Adam Khalil ’11 and Zack Khalil ’14. World’s Fairs “have historically presented a theory of progress, technological advancement, imperial advancement,” Jackson Polys, who cocreated NRO with the Khalil brothers, told the
New York Times.
The World’s UnFair, by contrast, subverts expectations with an animatronic beaver who speaks about private land ownership and satirical real estate ads featuring “comically small” portions of land given back to Native groups. The exhibition, curated by Bard alumna Diya Vij ’08, is meant to be provocative, asking questions about not only Native sovereignty, but also performances of Indigeneity and art’s place (or lack thereof) in the pursuit of decolonization.
The World’s UnFair is on view now through October 15 in Long Island City, Queens.
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Post Date: 09-26-2023