“Place, Nations, Generations, Beings: 200 Years of Indigenous North American Art” is on view at the Yale University Art Gallery through June 21, 2020. Curated by Katherine Nova McCleary (Yale College ‘18), and Leah Tamar Shrestinian (Yale College ‘18), and Joseph Zordan (Yale College ‘19), this exhibition is the first on Yale’s campus to highlight indigenous artwork from Yale’s collections. The work on display draws from collections in the Yale Art Gallery, the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The show features basketry, beadwork, drawings, photographs, pottery, textiles, and wooden carvings from the early 19th century to the present day, representing more than 40 indigenous nations.
As its title suggests, the show is divided into four themes: Place, Nations, Generations, and Beings. Several environmental humanities themes are treated in the exhibition, including communities’ conceptions of the universe and relationships to the natural world, land usage and deplacement of indigenous peoples in North America, and material histories of the object on display.
More information on the exhibition, and on the Yale University Art Gallery can be found here.