Allora & Calzadilla's Lisson Gallery Exhibition Examines Puerto Rico's Colonial Status Through Sculpture and Video

The exhibition 'Foreign in a Domestic Sense' by Allora & Calzadilla took place at Lisson Gallery in London from September 22 to November 11, 2017. It explored the implications of a 1901 US Supreme Court decision that classified Puerto Rico as 'foreign in a domestic sense,' which impacted the rights of Puerto Ricans, including their ability to vote in presidential elections. Featured works included 'Manifest' (2017), with rust-hued metal sculptures, and 'Loss' (2017), a black wax string bag filled with oranges. 'The Night We Became People Again' (2017) highlighted Puerto Rican sites, while 'Blackout' (2017) presented a twisted metal sculpture from a damaged transformer. The exhibition also featured a choral piece called 'mains hum' (2017) and critiqued the US's disaster response following Hurricane Maria in 2017.