Center for Curatorial Studies and Center for Indigenous Studies Present

A Conversation with Rebecca Belmore, Nicholas Galanin, Muriel Miguel and Candice Hopkins

Free, no registration required. 

In partnership with CCS Bard, the Center for Indigenous Studies will present performances by influential artists Emily Johnson/Catalyst and Ya Tseen as well as a series of artist talks that expand the exhibition into new conceptual territory and themes. These initiatives were organized by the Center for Indigenous Studies, in complement with Indian Theater, throughout the duration of the show.

Learn more about Indian Theater: Native Art and Self-determination Since 1969 and collaborative programming here.

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As a part of the opening of Indian Theater: Native Art and Self-determination Since 1969, Rebecca Belmore (Member of the Lac Seul First Nation (Anishinaabe)) will activate her large-scale commission, Force of Labour (ongoing) –, with a durational performance, and participate in an artist talk. Installed on the exterior of the Hessel Museum of Art, Force of Labour (ongoing) – is a monumental new work (17 x 30 ft) that will blanket the Museum’s façade. Using worker’s coveralls as raw material, the piece mirrors the dimension of a flag, but instead of symbolizing nationhood or sovereignty, this work questions the colonial impulses behind these gestures and their histories of labor exploitation and territorial claims. The performance Saw Kill (2023) begins with performers gathering at the eponymous creek and walking together, in a procession, carrying creek water and clay for the making of a monument on the grounds of the Hessel Museum.

White Carver, an installation and performance by Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂), features a non-Native carver engaged in carving a surprising object, one that might initially seem like a customary item in the vein of Northwest Coast Native American art. Galanin reconceives traditional carving practices, including the ways in which many Native carvers on the Northwest coast publicly perform their craft to a non-Native public, to confront the history of colonial fetishization of Indigenous cultures and objects. 

The new commission by Rebecca Belmore for Indian Theater: Native Art, Performance, and Self-determination Since 1969 has been generously supported by Rethinking Place: Bard-on-Mahicantuck, a Mellon Foundation Humanities for All Times project.

About the Hessel Museum:

Established in 1990, the Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS Bard) is an incubator for experimentation in exhibition-making and the leading institution dedicated exclusively to curatorial studies—a discipline exploring the historical, intellectual, and social conditions that inform curatorial practice. CCS Bard includes the Hessel Museum of Art, the CCS Bard Library and Archives, and the Graduate Program in Curatorial Studies. Learn more: https://ccs.bard.edu/

Directions:

CCS Bard and the Hessel Museum of Art are located on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, about 90 miles north of New York City. The street address is: 33 Garden Road Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504

COVID policy:

The health and safety of our visitors, students, faculty, and staff is our top priority, and we are committed to supporting the efforts of Bard College and New York State to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Bard College requires all visitors to campus buildings, including CCS Bard and the Hessel Museum, to be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, or to have received a negative COVID-19 test within the last 24 hours. To be considered fully vaccinated and boosted, visitors must have received at least one booster shot in addition to the full course of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In accordance with this policy, and for the health and safety of everyone, CCS Bard is implementing the following protocols:

Visitors ages 5 and up may be asked to show proof of vaccination upon entering the building.

Masking indoors is optional for visitors who are fully vaccinated and boosted and not experiencing symptoms.

If you are feeling ill, exhibiting symptoms, or have had contact with someone with COVID-19 in the past 14 days, please stay home and seek care. *Individuals who are fully vaccinated but recently tested positive for COVID-19 may visit only after they are no longer experiencing symptoms and it has been at least 5 days since they tested positive. If it has been more than 5 days but less than 10 days since their positive test, they must be masked throughout their time inside or in any kind of group setting.

Access information:

CCS Bard and the Hessel Museum of Art are located in a single-level facility. If you have specific questions or requests about access, please write to [email protected] at least two weeks before your visit or the event you plan to attend and we will make every effort to accommodate you.

During your visit, you may seek the assistance of Visitor Services staff members who are present at the CCS Bard reception desk and throughout the exhibitions. Please don’t hesitate to contact [email protected] with any feedback about your visit.
To see our full access policy, please visit https://ccs.bard.edu/visit/accessinformation.

Land Acknowledgment:

In the spirit of truth and equity, it is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that we gather on the sacred homelands of the Munsee and Muhheaconneok people, who are the original stewards of the land. Today, due to forced removal, the community resides in Northeast Wisconsin and is known as the Stockbridge-Munsee Community. We honor and pay respect to their ancestors past and present, as well as to future generations, and we recognize their continuing presence in their homelands. We understand that our acknowledgment requires those of us who are settlers to recognize our own place in and responsibilities toward addressing inequity, and that this ongoing and challenging work requires that we commit to real engagement with the Munsee and Mohican communities to build an inclusive and equitable space for all.

Financial contributions to Stockbridge Munsee Community Funds are encouraged and can be made here.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

View Press Release

Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art

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