LAND BACK in cities exhibition

LAND BACK in Cities is an exhibition with public programming featuring projects working towards Indigenous sovereignty in urban contexts.

Land Back refers to Indigenous-led movements that advocate for returning stolen ancestral lands to Indigenous peoples to restore sovereignty, self-determination, and environmental stewardship.

If you live in the Americas, Australasia, or the African continent, there is no escaping the fact that your movement and access to resources is shaped by legacies of European colonial settlement.

Erasure is one of the primary tools that was used to displace and exploit resources and people. If there is one thing that comes of this project please ask the next ten people you encounter whose land they are on, and if they know where that nation is headqautered now.

The climatic, social, and spatial injustices of the status qou have become impossible to ignore.

When we talk about LAND BACK, buildings and cities are rarely part of the conversation. This question of restitution is often framed as a rural issue. LAND BACK in Cities is a presentation and public program featuring projects working towards land sovereignty in urban contexts.

The exhibition and its public programming brings together Indigenous and settler activists, architects, designers, artists, and community organisations from the United States, Canada, Australia, Aotearoa-New Zealand, and South Africa, to present built work, visual material, maps, film, oral narratives, and community-led case studies. Together, these works highlight practical approaches to Land Back already unfolding in cities, including strategies related to land governance, housing, public space, occupation, and Indigenous-led development.

Beginning in Lenapehoking New York City in October 2026, the presentation and programming are intended to travel to partner locations, adapting to each local context.

Rather than offering a single definition, the exhibition asks what roles practitioners, institutions, and residents can play in advancing restitution and repair?