Inspired by both the occupation of Alcatraz by the Indians of All Tribes in 1969 as well as a treatise written at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) that same year and first published in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this presentation of Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969 marks a kind of ‘homecoming’ for the conceptual basis of the groundbreaking exhibition, which has been previously shown in the Northeastern United States and in Canada.
Curated by Candice Hopkins (citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation), Executive Director and Chief Curator of Forge Project, Indian Theater is the first major exhibition to center performance as an origin point for the development of contemporary art by Native artists. Far-ranging in scope and perspectives, the exhibition features artists of Native American, Alaska Native, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit backgrounds. Indian Theater traces the history of artistic experimentation that emerged in the late 1960s, a rich period of creativity that was expressed through political action, critical engagement with existing Native aesthetic practices, and a profound reconsideration of identity—all of which led to a renewed era of self-determination that continues to inform Native artists today.
An intergenerational exhibition, Indian Theater brings together over 100 artworks by over 40 artists and collectives. Additionally, this presentation of Indian Theater will feature collaborations with the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA). Through MoCNA’s participation, this exhibition is not only a homecoming, then, of those ideas, but also a testimony to their unimaginable flourishing in the hands of diverse artists over more than fifty years of Native creativity, artistry, and self-determination.
