This is Displacement

Thu-Sat, Nov 18-20, 1:00 - 5:00 pm
(Plus one hour prior to each performance)

This is Displacement is a companion to the Emily Johnson | Catalyst + BLACKFISH performance of The Thank-you Bar (created by choreographer Emily Johnson). The idea to curate and present a group art exhibit came from a desire to offer audiences multiple views of displacement from indigenous perspectives and to encourage dialogue and critical commentary on the intersections of art and identity.

This is Displacement: Native Artists Consider the Relationship Between Land & Identity is a group exhibit of work by contemporary Native artists considering displacement, land, and identity in their work. Curated by Carolyn Lee Anderson and Emily Johnson, the exhibit features two and three-dimensional art, short films/video, recorded sound art (music/stories/sound collage) and written work that overtly or subtly deals with displacement. As curators, Johnson and Anderson are defining displacement broadly because it needs a broad definition. Displacement does not always come from an outside force and it is sometimes felt as an intense connection to a place other than homeland. Native people have a unique and distinctive relationship to displacement's ills, and Native people have many different perspectives on displacement.

Curator Carolyn Lee Anderson:
"I am curating this exhibit because displacement is an especially challenging issue in my life. I was born and raised in Minnesota, but my maternal heritage is Diné. I feel at home here in Minnesota, but I have an intense longing to be in the Southwest and to learn about my culture and language. It's as if half of my heart is here in Minnesota, and the other half is in Dinétah."

Curator Emily Johnson:
"As an artist, I am supported, challenged, and strengthened by the work of other artists. My dances are empathetic responses to my environment, experiences, and questions. But, they are MY empathetic responses, and I know there is no ONE picture of displacement, no ONE story that matters most.... I want to offer audiences a wide spectrum of images to contemplate. I want more artists' work to be seen in more places. I believe that the more we support one another as artists and audience members, the more we, and our art, are strengthened."

Partial list of featured artists include:

Carolyn Lee Anderson (Diné)
Jay Bad Heart Bull (Lakota)
Gordon Coons (Ojibwe/Ottawa)
Jim Denomie (Ojibwe)
Lisa Fifield (Oneida)
Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit)
Shan Goshorn (Cherokee)
Priscilla Hensley Holthouse (Inupiaq)
Emily Johnson (Yup'ik)
Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Inupiaq/Athabaskan)
Doug Limon (Ojibwe/Oneida)
Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (Inupiaq)
Jonathan Thunder (Ojibwe)
Star Wallowing Bull (Ojibwe/Arapaho)
Gwen Westerman (Dakota)