Project: The Transnational

Location: Umm Al Quwain for the Sharjah Biennial 14, United Arab Emirates

Date: March - April, 2019

ARTISTS: Delaney Martin Taylor Shepherd Alita Edgar

CURATOR: Claire Tancons

PERFORMANCE COLLABORATORS: Freek X Monster Crew Over 50 community participants

Emirati Photo and video contributions: Aisha Binsuroor Ameena Al Jarman Taqwa Al Naqabi Hessa Al Ajmani Hashem Al Ajmani Hamoud Mosabih Mouza Al Hamrani

The artists have conceived of a project around an abandoned airplane in Umm Al Qawain, conjuring up thoughts of travel, immigration, destination, visitation, home, territory and borders. At the site of this derelict airplane, Airlift artists consider embodied states of coming, going and existing in between by posing questions about national and personal identity as well as the meaning of home. Informed by extensive interviews and community workshops with Emiratis and temporary residents living in the UAE, The Trans-National (2019) uses the abandoned airplane as an open and indeterminate space of self-projection, collective gathering and reflection. The installation presents UAE residents’ messages, lullabies and imaginings of home in traversable portals under the wings. In the plane’s cockpit are photos and videos contributed by members of the Emirati community. In some cases, these personal histories date from times before the country’s unification in 1971. An opening ceremony processional for the installation was conceived in collaboration with a number of UAE-based collaborators, including Freek, a UAE-born Somalian rapper; X, a UAE-born experimental singer and composer of Filipino descent; Monster Crew, a choreographer of South Asian descent; and dozens of other participants from South Asian communities. A programme of workshops, gatherings and talks continued on-site throughout the Biennial.

Project: Music Box Outpost

Location: Prattsville Art Center, Prattsville NY

Date: July 2021

ARTISTS: Delaney Martin Taylor Shepherd Ranjit Bhatnagar Terry Dame Nick Yulman

Taylor Shepherd and Delaney Martin led their first Music Box Outpost that saw musical architecture built into a real house. The Prattsville Art Center and Residency is a vital hub in a small Catskills, NY working class village. With regular art shows, visiting musicians, a coffee shop and a community library the center is a creative outlet for locals and visitors of all ages. Musical architecture is now dispersed throughout this well used and funky former hardware shop dating from the 1800’s. A door bell by Martin and Shepherd functions as a call and response to the local fire departments sirens that run tests at noon daily. Open the door to the sound of Terry Dame’s tinkling keys instrument triggered by the door. In the library Nic Yulman has installed a shelf of playable books. In the performance room Martin and Shepherd have customized a staircase to have a chime balustrade and steps that trigger beats. Dame and Yulman have instruments to be played on the walls and the ceiling while Ranjit Bhatnagar built an accordion into the wall. Bhatnagar also provided the center with his very popular musical brooms! The group of artists unveiled the permanent installation with a performance and it continues to be used by visiting musicians who incorporate elements of the work into their sets. Airlift has encouraged the center to commission more experiments to grow its musical architecture over time. As always it was a joy to be in community with the folks we met in Prattsville.

Airlift created a first-of-its-kind traveling
musical architecture with support from Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and the band
The National for Eaux Claires Fest in 2018. Since then " "Porch Life" has crossed the country,
turning up at locations including the Coney Island boardwalk, The Kennedy
Center, The Momentary Museum and more! Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for inquires about Porchlife coming to visit your town

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