Through the physical transportation of land from North Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Keir Johnston and Ernel Martinez of Amber Art & Design will be considering Land Sovereignty - at the very root and function of our country’s past and present realities - both within Philadelphia and as a physically-manifested experience nationwide. A line of soil will mark their route, dropping from the wheelbarrow as they travel and creating mounds of dirt along the way before ending in a single mound at the Museum. This movement will engage questions of sovereignty, value, and control, embodying the traverses of illegal immigrants, as well as past and modern passages from slavery to freedom.

Route: Diamond Street → Fairmount Park, Hatfield House → Sedgley Street → Benjamin Franklin Parkway → Perelman Building, Philadelphia Museum of Art


This performance is part of the Amber Art & Design series of Move-In performances, Visages of the Underground, taking place the week of August 14, 2017. At each site, Amber Arts will invite participants to join in the performance, allowing for organic movement and interaction throughout the travels. Each performance will have a designated starting location and end at the Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art located at 2525 Pennsylvania Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19130.