Museum Things

It's been an interesting fall at the museum. First we opened a spectacular new exhibition that has received great reviews and is generating a lot of buzz. Next, we "redecorated" the main entry space for American Indian Heritage Month and related events. We're also doing a lot of work now to make the museum more family-friendly, which is my new job. In fact, I'll be there the day after Christmas working on visitor studies to get some more info for that, but that will be another post.


We asked tribal communities to send us their flags, and more than 80 responded. The Potomac space was much more colorful for a few weeks, and we hope helped people to talk about and understand tribal sovereignty a bit better.



The new exhibition is called Brian Jungen: Strange Comfort. This is in our changing gallery, and is the first exhibition at the DC museum of a living contemporary artist. Interestingly, it is the first time that Mr. Jungen has been exhibited in a Native museum. (His works have appeared in the Sydney Biennale, the Tate Modern in London, the New Museum in New York, etc.) He is Swiss-Canadian and Dunne-Za First Nation from northeastern British Columbia.

As you'll see, his work is amazing. Taking modern elements, often from sports, he transforms them into iconic pieces that are reminiscent of Northwest Coast-style Native art. His work speaks to the issues of what is art, what is Native art, what role do sports have in our society, what is iconic, etc. They are statements about society and culture and people themselves. For me, that ability to see something extraordinary in something ordinary is just fantastic. Some of the photos are better than others, as some are from my cell phone. But, you can visit the museum's website on the exhibit for more info and more imagery. Strange Comfort Enjoy!


Blanket no. 7 (2008) features jerseys from NBA rivals Allan Iverson and Kobe Bryant, which are interwoven to evoke a Northwest Coast-style woven blanket.


Crux (as seen from those who sleep on the surface of the earth under the night sky) is actually part of the NMAI collection. Originally built for the Syndey (Australia) Biennale in 2008, the mobile features Australian animals -- a possum, shark, emu, sea eagle, and crocodile -- built from Samsonite luggage. Crux is a Southern Hemisphere constellation, and so there is a lot of symbolism in this piece. The museum's photo are so much better than mine!



OK, these are from my phone, sorry.


Shapeshifter (2000), built from white plastic lawn chairs. Yes, this is my favorite.


The Prince (2006) is built from baseball gloves.


These totems (2007) are built from golf bags. Each is named for a different decade, representing different critical events in Indian Country.


Prototype for new understanding x (the x is because I failed to note which one). These were done in the early 2000s. They are evocative of Northwest Coast transformation masks. Made from Air Jordan sneakers, there are, surprise, 23 of them in the series. And yes, Michael Jordan owns one too. But really, go to the site to see them better.