LANDBACK.Art, a group dedicated to getting “Indigenous lands back into Indigenous hands” has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund 20 billboards advocating for that goal in 20 cities, including Memphis.
The campaign represents a partnership between NDN Collective, For Freedoms, and INDÍGENA. NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led group devoted to building Indigenous power. For Freedoms is an artist collective devoted to civic engagement, and INDÍGENA is a storytelling group founded by Mexica creatives Josué Rivas and Xiuhtezcatl. The groups have invited 10 Indigenous artists to illustrate their answers to the question “What does ‘land back’ mean to you?”
Campaign organizer Demetrius Johnson said this in a statement, “The world is on fire and there is urgency to build and create solutions to save our world. Indigenous people are the original caretakers of the world, so let us lead to caretake it again.”
“Many of our current struggles for equity, human dignity and protecting Mother Earth are a result of colonization and its destructive progeny — the concept of ‘land ownership.’ Among other principles, our Indigenous sisters and brothers at NDN and INDÍGENA promote stewardship of the land and a recognition of our symbiotic relationship with it. If we believe in justice, we must heed their call for LandBack. That is the invitation from Another Justice: By Any Medium Necessary,” said Claudia Peña, For Freedoms executive director and LANDBACK.Art artist, in a press release about the project.
With 180 backers so far and 25 days left in the campaign, the Kickstarter has earned $14,114 of the $40,000 goal. If the campaign is successful, it will help fund the creation of a billboard in Memphis.
