Continuing with our programming for The Contest of the Fruits, we welcome you to attend the Slavs and Tatars: Bacteria Bar Opening Reception & Exhibition on Friday, October 15th, 2021 at 5:30 PM, at Twelve Gates Arts (106 N 2nd St, Philadelphia). The Bacteria Bar is a pop-up exhibition of The Contest of the Fruits by Slavs and Tatars, with fresh Ayran and snacks served! This event is free and open to the public.

Slavs and Tatars have long been interested in fermentation as a way to question our assumptions about topics as diverse as identity, reason, and history. The Bacteria Bar greets the Philadelphia public in the form of an Ayran-machine: serving ayran, a Turkish fermented yogurt beverage, amidst several works from the collective.

The Contest of the Fruits takes a nineteenth-century Uyghur allegorical poem as the point of departure for investigations into language, politics, religion, humor, resilience, and resistance in a pluralistic world. It includes a virtual series, publication, new animated film, and exhibition at Haverford’s Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery by renowned artist collective Slavs and Tatars.