Preppers is an exhibition about doomsday preppers — the global subculture of people who prepare for the collapse of society. Preppers collect specialised gear, practice survival skills, and hoard violent knowledge. They gather in communities and clubs as well as online. Prepping is a lifestyle and also a world-view, with its own distinct aesthetics, vocabulary, and consumer products.

This exhibition considers the prepper phenomenon as an expression of wider cultural anxiety. Today, catastrophe looms on many fronts — whether environmental collapse, disruptive technology, rising political nativism, or a global economic crash. While established power systems fail to address these challenges, preppers are hard at work planning for the worst. In this moment of great uncertainty, they understand that chaos also represents an opportunity.

Curated by Louden + McCabe + Kronemyer.