Call for Nominations for Landslide 2021: Race and Space

Landslide® 2021: Race and Space, a report and online exhibition, will focus on cultural landscapes associated with African Americans and others that are threatened and at-risk.  

A call for nominations has been issued; deadline for submission is June 15, 2021.  

This follows the announcement late in 2020 that “Race and Space” would be the unifying theme for The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s (TCLF) programmatic agenda beginning in 2021. As an education and advocacy organization, we will make visible, instill value and engage the public in these myriad cultural landscapes that collectively convey who we are, where we came from, and where we are going as a nation. TCLF is committing to a comprehensive, ongoing effort across all of our programming and advocacy initiatives to reveal the stories of these largely unrecognized cultural landscapes and lifeways. One of TCLF's principal education and advocacy initiative is Landslide and the annual thematic Landslide report about cultural landscapes that are threatened and at-risk. The goal is to draw immediate and lasting attention to threatened sites by making them more visible, revealing their value, and promoting public engagement in the form of advocacy and stewardship.  

The recent social unrest and protests for racial justice have revealed deep divisions in our nation and exposed a profound lack of education and awareness about our own history; it has also prompted a great deal of soul searching along with calls for healing and reconciliation. In some key ways, this recalls the events of 1968, when marches, riots, and sadly, even assassinations seemed to signal that the fabric of the American democracy was unraveling. That unforgettable year was in many ways the flashpoint of struggles by generations of Americans to secure the personal liberty and equality promised but not yet delivered by their citizenship. Although the ensuing decades have undeniably brought progress on many fronts, the present moment, too, is rife with upheaval and social division—a sign of how far we have yet to go on our journey toward “a more perfect union,” despite how far we have come.  

TCLF has focused on a number of sites associated with civil and human rights; that was the case with the Landslide 2018 thematic report, Grounds for Democracy, which included the Lynching Sites of Shelby County, Tennessee, Japanese American Confinement Sites, and many others.

After the pertinent Landslide 2021: Race and Space landscapes have been identified, TCLF will commission noted photographers to capture the essence of each threatened site. Along with the newly commissioned photographs, a complementary online exhibition will include historical images, site plans, other archival materials and video interviews.

The Landslide 2021: Race and Space, a report and online exhibition will be unveiled in Fall 2021.