Historically, New Orleans has been regarded as a city deeply rooted in its past. For Prospect.6, Co-Artistic Directors Miranda Lash and Ebony G. Patterson will posit New Orleans as a globally relevant point of departure for examining our collective future as it relates to climate change, legacies of colonialism, and definitions of belonging and home. 

What if New Orleans, a predominantly BIPOC city deeply impacted by hurricanes, receding coastlines, histories of violence, and a cyclical commitment to celebration, was considered a harbinger for the world that is to come? This framework postulates New Orleans, along with other more climate-vulnerable regions in the world, as already living in the “future” that other places will experience. With alarming speed, more regions of the world are experiencing the immediate effects of climate change and dramatic shifts in economic and government function. New Orleans is thereby approached as a gift to the rest of the world in its ability to offer lessons and examples for how to live in constant negotiation with the weather, grounded within a community that reflects the global majority, and in direct proximity to the effects and aftereffects of colonial and exploitative economies.

We regard New Orleanians as Prospect's first audience. In our collaborations within the city and other regions often framed by tourism, stereotypes, and service economies, we strive to honor the people who manifest the vibrance of these creative communities. We are asking: what does it mean to speak "from" a place, rather than "at" it? If a biennial or triennial is traditionally considered in relation to its "host" city (a term with parasitic implications), what does it mean to "hold" a city, a gesture that suggests care and reverence?