Earlier this year, the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts hosted the group exhibition Inherent Memory, featuring contemporary Indigenous basketry-related art created by Indigenous women and nonbinary artists from California and the Great Basin. If you have missed this exhibition, you can now enjoy this exhibition overview with guest curator Melissa Melero-Moose (Northern Paiute and Modoc). Melero-Moose talks about the underrepresentation of Indigenous artists from the Great Basin area in museums and galleries and her efforts to promote these artists. She also discusses the significance of Great Basin Basketry and its contributions to contemporary Indigenous art.
The video was created with the generous support of the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums and the National Endowment for the Humanities SHARP Program.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/10718475/video/831337006
The video was created with the generous support of the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums, and the National Endowment for the Humanities SHARP Program.
Please enjoy this exhibition overview of "The Stories We Carry" with guest-curator Brian Fleetwood (Mvskoke). Our jewelry exhibition, The Stories We Carry, features contemporary jewelry created by over 100 Indigenous artists from MoCNA’s permanent collection. Each work highlights how the adornment of the human body is central to many cultural practices.
The video was created with the generous support of the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums, and the National Endowment for the Humanities SHARP Program.
"The Stories We Carry" will be on display until September 30, 2024.
https://vimeo.com/showcase/10718386/video/824239483
Get Indigenous Film Festival—Indigenous Film and Television Content Creation Panel Discussion
Join us for a panel discussion at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) by notable film and television content creators to discuss Indigenous content today, and for the future. Where is the content headed, and what are their personal insights for longevity in the industry.
The Art of Jean LaMarr—Panel Conversation with Artist Jean LaMarr and Guest Curator Ann Wolfe
Please join us for a panel conversation featuring contemporary Native activist-artist Jean LaMarr and Nevada Art Museum Associate Director and Chief Curator, Ann Wolfe at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA). Together, they will delve into LaMarr’s artistic practices, inspirations, and the powerful messages behind her work.
Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting
Enjoy the trailer of Imagining The Indian and come to our film screening on Friday, June 30 from 3:00 pm-6:30 pm.
“Imagining the Indian” is a comprehensive examination of the movement to eradicate the words, images, and gestures that many Native Americans and their allies find demeaning and offensive. The film takes a deep-dive into the issues through archival footage and interviews with those involved in the fight. The psychological research is clear, the use of Native American mascots is detrimental, not only to Native people, but to marginalized groups everywhere.
Please join directors Ben West (Cheyenne) and Aviva Kempner, producers Kevin Blackistone and Yancey Burns, and interviewee Rick West (Cheyenne) for a conversation about the misappropriation of Native cultures and an evening film screening of “Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting”.
3:00–4:30 pm: Film Screening
4:30–5:30 pm: Panel Conversation
5:30–6:30 pm: Reception
#imaginingtheindian #TheFightContinues #NotYourMascot #StopTheChop
Learn more about the film at www.imaginingtheindianfilm.org.
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi): Oil & Gold
Take a look at this short video with Cara Romero (Chemehuevi) ’05, who explains the creation of her 2021 photograph Oil & Gold. The work addresses the issue of federal tribal recognition. There are 18 tribes along the California coast that never received federal recognition in the mid-1800s because the state of California failed to ratify their treaties. It was no coincidence that these tribes’ traditional lands were nestled within regions rich in gold and oil.
The photograph Oil & Gold by Cara Romero Photography is on display in “Inherent Memory” until June 25, 2023.
This documentation was created with help from the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
A Conversation with MoCNA’s Chief Curator Dr. Manuela Well-Off-Man and Rick Rivet
As part of the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts’ (MoCNA) ongoing programming for Rick Rivet: Journeys, Mounds and the Metaphysical, please join us for an online conversation with MoCNA’s Chief Curator Manuela Well-Off-Man and Rick Rivet (Sahtu-Métis). They will talk about Rivet’s creative process and the recurring themes in his works. For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Jason S. Ordaz, IAIA Director of Communications, at [email protected].
The livestream event happens on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, 2–3 pm (MDT). For questions, please contact MoCNA Membership and Program Assistant Nuttaphol Ma at [email protected] or (505) 428-5925.
Image Credit: Rick Rivet (Sahtu-Métis), Amundsen – 14/12/1911, 2011, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of artist.
We are excited to share four videos by BFA Cinematic Arts seniors as part of MoCNA’s current “2022–2023 IAIA BFA Exhibition: Beyond Reflections.” The videos include a short film by Alica Mteuzi (Caddo, Cheyenne and Arapaho about a future Afro-Indigenous uprising against a corrupt and incompetent colonial government; a comedy by Erik Sanchez (Shoalwater Bay / Chinook / Chicano) featuring mock western-designed Native American stereotypes. Also on view are two short videos by Tyrell Etsitty (Dinè), who is inspired by the duality of light and darkness, prosperity and tragedy, and good and evil. All videos are screened in MoCNA’s Helen Hardin Media Gallery.
Enjoy this short video “Meet Up By The Totah, 2022” created by Tyrell Etsitty (Dinè), and make sure to visit MoCNA’s North Gallery to view a wide range of works created by this year’s BFA students.
"2022–2023 IAIA BFA Exhibition: Beyond Reflections” will be on view until May 14, 2023.
2022 IAIA Commencement Ceremony
2022 IAIA Commencement Ceremony
Kinship and Solidarity Across Borders: A Conversation on Indigenous Curatorial Practices
Charlene Teters: Way of Sorrows Exhibition Panorama