Suzanne Kite MFA ’18, aka Kite, distinguished artist in residence, assistant professor of American and Indigenous Studies, and director of the Wihanble S’a Center for Indigenous AI at Bard, was profiled in
ArtForum’s Spotlight series. The profile focuses on Kite’s performance art and use of technology, particularly the piece “
Pȟehíŋ kiŋ líla akhíšoke. (Her hair was heavy.)”, referred to as one of Kite’s “braid performances.” Writer Christopher Green calls Kite one of the “foremost Indigenous artists exploring the capacity of music, video, installation, and [technology] in combination with performance to examine the embodiment and visualization of contemporary Lakȟóta ways of knowing.”
The profile also explains Kite’s goal of making art for Native, Lakȟóta audiences. “Her refusal to legibly encode or concretize her scores for the mainstream destabilizes the ethnographic gaze and its desire to document, categorize, and control Indigenous culture, language, and bodies,” Green writes. Her upcoming
Wičhíŋčala Šakówiŋ (Seven Little Girls), a scored performance which will be accompanied by a full orchestra, will be presented at MIT later this year.
Photo: Wichahpih'a (a clear night with a star-filled sky) by Suzanne Kite MFA ’18, director of the Wihanble S’a Center for Indigenous AI.
Meta: Type(s): Alumni,Faculty | Subject(s): Alumni/ae,American and Indigenous Studies Program,Bard Graduate Programs,Bard Undergraduate Programs,Master of Fine Arts (Bard MFA),Studio Arts Program | Institutes(s): Bard Undergraduate Programs,MFA,Wihanble S’a Center |