Biennial rising: Prospect.1 New Orleans and the post-disaster arts movement

Unrestricted After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in August of 2005, centuries-old hierarchies were overturned, spatial boundaries rendered unrecognizable, and artists on multiple fronts coalesced into communities with a similarity of purpose: to produce experimental contemporary art in New Orleans linked to a global rather than regional dialogue, and to test the role of art as a force in building community and engaging in pedagogy in a post-disaster context. This urgent need to connect artistic activity to a greater social rebuilding process, along with the compacted changes to the redefined and renegotiated arts sector in New Orleans, led me to focus on the massive game-changing inception of the first international United States biennial exhibition, Prospect.1 New Orleans. Through on-the-ground interviews and site visits, I investigate Prospect.1 from inception to reception, analyze it against existing biennial structures, and unpack the complexities of its relationship with the burgeoning post-disaster arts movement.