Description

A first-time AAP grantee, the Museum of Contemporary Native Art, is organizing the seminal exhibition, “Reclaiming/Transforming Spaces,” featuring the work of Indigenous artists in the US and Canada who address issues related to Indigenous homelands–including land-loss, broken treaties, forced removals, and hazardous extractive industries—and define concepts of home and belonging informed by Indigenous knowledge systems and practices. Working across media, including light, sound, and new technologies, the artists create self-determined or symbolically reclaimed spaces, including alternative forms of sustainable architecture. A platform for Indigenous voices, “Reclaiming/Transforming Spaces” will juxtapose the colonial commodification of land with Indigenous practices of land stewardship, inviting dialogue about the environmental realities faced by Indigenous communities and their resilient efforts to protect their cultural heritage and knowledge for future generations. The exhibition will foreground the capacity of technology-based art to communicate silenced histories and struggles and powerful knowledge traditions, and the complexity and potential of being contemporary and Indigenous. 
This grant aligns with the AAP strategic goal 1a: To advance innovative museum projects that prioritize representation and equity through the preservation, study, and presentation of work by under-represented artists of color, collaborations with diverse external partners, and outreach to underserved communities.