Lots of activity at the National Museum(s) of the American Indian in coming days. In Washington, DC, “Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women’s Dresses” will be open through January 2, 2008. The exhibition examines the individual, communal and cultural identity of Native women as reflected in their dresses and their artistry in creating them.
Also in Washington, "Return to a Native Place: Algonquian Peoples of the Chesapeake" is an ongoing show of photographs, maps, ceremonial and everyday objects giving evidence of the continuing, since the 1600s, presence of the Nanticoke, Powhatan and Piscataway Tribes in the Chesapeake area.
Three additional ongoing exhibitions at the NMAI in DC feature “Our Universe”, “Our Peoples” and “Our Lives”. The first focuses on cosmologies of the Native communities and the spiritual relationships between them and the earth. The second tells the stories, and 500 years of history, of eight different indigenous Native tribes through their own words. The third reveals how the members of eight Native communities live, and preserve and express their identity within the complexities of the 21st Century.
Shows in the nation’s capitol are presented at the NMAI on the Mall.
Meanwhile, the New York venue of the NMAI is offering four shows on its own.
“Off the Map: Landscape in the Native Imagination” will run through September 3, 2007. The Native artists featured in the show examine landscape from the complex perspectives of home, culture and identity, all aspects of the “land” for them.
“Beauty Surrounds Us” runs through September 23, 2008, presenting 77 works of Native art from the museum’s collection. This show inaugurates the new Diker Pavilion for Native Arts and Cultures.
“Indigenous Motivations: Recent Acquisitions from the National Museum of he American Indian” concludes its appearance on June 10, 2007. This show focuses on the works the NMAI has acquired since 1990, including the massive George Gustave Heye collection.
Finally, in New York, “Born of Clay: Ceramics from the National Museum of the American Indian” closes at the end of this month. This is a pottery-lovers feast of works by eight Native potters from four regions (the Andes, eastern North America, Mesoamerica, and the southwestern US).
All New York shows are at the George Gustave Heye Center. More information on all shows is available at the NMAI web site.
Aboriginals Gallery, and its allied Web sites at ZuniLink.com, TribalWorks.com, Native-PotteryLink.com and Native-JewelryLink.com, are happy to bring you news of exhibitions at the NMAI. People that are unable to get to Washington, DC or New York City will find a wide sampling of authentic Native American art and artifacts at these web sites.
