We are pleased to welcome you to the opening reception for the Contest of the Fruits on Friday, September 10, 2021 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery!

The Contest of the Fruits, developed in conversation with Haverford College Assistant Professor of Religion Guangtian Ha, takes a nineteenth-century Uyghur allegorical poem as the point of departure for investigations of language, politics, religion, humor, resilience, and resistance in a pluralistic world. The poem features the ribald rivalry of thirteen fruits, such as the mulberry, pomegranate, quince, and pear. At the focal point of this exhibition, internationally-renowned art collective Slavs and Tatars have re-interpreted the poem as a Turkic rap battle in their first-ever animated video work. Performative and playful, it is accompanied by new sculptural works also emerging from the syncretic linguistic and ethnographic heritage at the heart of Uyghur culture.

For more program information, click here!

The Contest of the Fruits was created in collaboration with Slavs and Tatars, Guangtian Ha, CAIR Philly, and Twelve Gates Arts and is supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.