SANTA FE, New Mexico — Outside the Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe’s gallery entrance, a banner announces Self-Determined: A Contemporary Survey of Native and Indigenous Artists and another lists the artists with their tribal affiliations and other heritages, an effective proper first introduction mirroring the intertribal practice of identifying ourselves and naming those to whom we belong. Inside, a curatorial statement promises artist-led subject matter.
The show reveals an intriguing slice of the breadth of work that Indigenous artists are creating today, presenting rich expressions which also prompt questions about the contexts that we collectively occupy. For example, Dyani White Hawk (Sičangu Lakota) models mindful intertribal responsibility by exposing listeners to “the cadence and sounds” of Native languages through the video installation series Listen (2020), made in collaboration with cinematographer Razelle Benally (Oglala Lakota/Diné). (Benally’s credit is limited to the art labels, though her contribution merits inclusion in the artist list.)
Two videos placed near the entry ground the exhibition in the Indigenous Southwest via the languages spoken and locations represented: RoseMarie Lujan (Taos Pueblo) speaks Tiwa in front of a corn field, combined with visuals of Taos Pueblo, squash, and sunflowers, and Shandiin Hiosik Yazzie (Diné/Akimel O’odham/Yoeme) speaks Diné on Diné land. In another room, six more videos spotlight Native women speaking their respective Indigenous languages — Ho-Chunk, Ojibwe, Cocopah, Seneca, Quechan, and Dakota — on their Native lands.
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