Acknowledgement & Reclamation

September 12, 13​, 2026

Governors Island

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Drawing on histories rooted in South Texas and Ecuador, the work affirms the enduring presence and sovereignty of Indigenous peoples, whose nations long predate the Declaration of Independence and the formation of the United States.

 

The installation is composed of 575 handwritten ribbons by Ortiz, each bearing the name of one of the federally recognized Native nations in the United States. Against this backdrop, George Emilio Sanchez performs a work confronting histories of dispossession and erasure while asking what acknowledgment and solidarity might mean today.

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Commissioned by More Art Inc with support from the New York State Council on the Arts.