News from MIAC/Lab
MIAC Announces New Opening Date for “Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass”
APRIL 8, 2021
Breaking the boundaries of what is deemed traditional Indigenous art, a new exhibition at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC), “Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass,” examines how Native artists reinterpret cultural narratives and designs in new mediums. The exhibition is scheduled to open on May 16, 2021, and runs through June 13, 2022.
“Clearly Indigenous is a groundbreaking new exhibition at MIAC that presents Native artists’ innovations in glass,” said MIAC Director Della Warrior (Otoe-Missouria). “By looking at the genesis of glass art throughout Indian Country — not just in the Southwest — the exhibition brings together a striking collection of work that tells a larger story about Indigenous cultural knowledge and artistic genius.”
The two-pronged exhibition focuses on how Native artists have melded ancestral ways with new methods and materials in glass, while concurrently examining the historical narrative of how glass art came to Indian Country from a historical perspective. The exhibit will feature work from 29 Native American artists and four Pacific Rim artists from New Zealand and Australia, as well as seminal glass artist Dale Chihuly.
Works from global Indigenous artists Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Rory Wakemup (Minnesota Chippewa), Angela Babby (Lakota), and Priscilla Cowie (Maori) will be paired with those from the Southwest, such as Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo), Adrian Wall (Jemez Pueblo), Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), and Tammy Garcia (Santa Clara Pueblo). Though some of these local artists might be familiar to MIAC’s audiences, visitors will be introduced to new ways to think about their artistic lineages, knowledge, and practices. Together, the exhibition’s diverse array of glass artists will provide visitors with a new understanding of what Native art is and can be by exploring themes of innovation, tradition, and continuity.
The exhibition is co-curated by Leticia Chambers, Ph.D., a former CEO of the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and artist and museum consultant Cathy Short (Citizen Potawatomi Nation).
About the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, under the leadership of the Board of Regents for the Museum of New Mexico. Programs and exhibits are generously supported by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and our donors. The mission of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology is to serve as a center of stewardship, knowledge, and understanding of the artistic, cultural, and intellectual achievements of the diverse peoples of the Native Southwest.
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