In January 2021, we previously reported Desert X's plans to postpone the third edition of the Coachella Valley's highly anticipated international art exhibition due to increasing Covid-19 cases. However, last Friday, the Coachella Valley "opened" their desert exhibitions to the public.

From March 12th to May 16th, visitors can experience site-specific installations that touch on the desert "as a place and idea." By honoring landscapes and its people, this year's programming will "build on themes explored in previous iterations, looking deeper at ideas essential to the sustenance of our future and identity and the histories, realities, and possibilities of the Coachella Valley and its many communities," shares Desert X. 

Desert X expresses their goals of unpacking issues pertinent to what society is currently facing today. Topics include "the history of land rights, ownership, and stewardship, the desert as border marked by narratives of migration, social justice and racial demarcations of the West, the gendered landscape, and the role of women and children and the creation of new dialogues between regional and global desert experience."

Featuring an international set of contemporary artists, Desert X's curators César García-Alvarez and Neville Wakefield (returning director) express excitement for this year's iteration. "My hope is that this iteration of Desert X can shed light on a set of lived experiences that are shared across geographies and cultures," shared García-Alvarez. "As much as the desert is a state of place, it is also a state of mind. Its borders are not singular but multiple, and it is defined as much by social geography as physical boundary," expressed Wakefield.

In their virtual preview, thirteen installations are exhibited throughout the Coachella Valley. Below is the full list of this year's featured Desert X artists. 

• Zahrah Alghamdi (born 1977, Al Bahah, Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah)
• Ghada Amer (born 1963, Cairo, Egypt, based in New York)
• Felipe Baeza (born 1987, Guanajuato, Mexico, based in New York)
• Judy Chicago (born 1939, Chicago, US. based in Belen, New Mexico)

• Serge Attukwei Clottey (born 1985, Accra, Ghana, based in Accra)
• Nicholas Galanin (born 1979, Sitka, Alaska, US, based in Sitka)
• Alicja Kwade (born 1979, Katowice, Poland, based in Berlin)
• Oscar Murillo (born 1986, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, based in various locations)
• Christopher Myers (born 1974, New York, US, based in New York)

• Eduardo Sarabia (born 1976, Los Angeles, US, based in Guadalajara, Mexico)
• Xaviera Simmons (born 1974, New York, US based in New York)
• Kim Stringfellow (born 1963, San Mateo, CA, US, based in Joshua Tree)
• Vivian Suter (born 1949, Buenos Aires, Argentina, based in Panajachel, Guatemala)

Honoring the land and its people, Desert X gives their thanks and acknowledgement to the Cahuilla People: "We acknowledge the Cahuilla People as the original stewards of the land on which Desert X takes place. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work with the indigenous people in this place. We pay our respect to the Cahuilla People, past, present and emerging, who have been here since time immemorial."

Even though the installations are located outdoors, Desert X requires visitors to plan their visits responsibly by wearing masks and interacting with the desert landscape. To help with crowd control and promote safety protocols, some of the exhibitions require timed tickets to visit the installations. Ticket reservations are free. 

To learn more about the featured artists and their installations, click here. A virtual map of Desert X 2021 can be viewed here.