Curator Miguel Amado walks through the exhibition with artists Ahmet Öğüt and Anna Ostoya.
In the early 1990s, Western-style liberal democracies appeared as the archetypal form of government from which a peacekeeping transnational power would emerge. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the end of the Cold War inaugurated what one hoped was an era without conflict. However, on the fiftieth anniversary of that fortification, strife is spreading worldwide. From the U.S.-Mexico frontier to Jerusalem, more and more barbed wired fences and checkpoints are being assembled, splitting communities and creating areas of exclusion. The construction of the Berlin Wall, rather than its demise, is the historical moment that encapsulates the current state of affairs.
The Walls That Divide Us addresses the proliferation of state and city separation barriers across the globe as symbols of dissent in contemporary politics. Featured works explore phenomena including imperialistic enterprises, contested territories, security policies, border control, revolutionary movement, and mass protest.
New York City, NY; NYC