Center for Indigenous Studies at Bard College Presents Inaugural Public Performances and Artist Talks in June and July

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Center for Indigenous Studies at Bard College is thrilled to announce its inaugural public presentations on Bard’s Annandale-on-Hudson campus in June and July. Performances by influential artists Ya Tseen and Emily Johnson/Catalyst are presented in partnership with the Fisher Center at Bard College and the Hessel Museum of Art, respectively. Ya Tseen (“be alive” in Tlingit), the electro-soul music project of artist Nicholas Galanin, will perform on Saturday, June 24 at 8:30 pm at the Fisher Center’s Spiegeltent. Being Future Being: Land/Celestial, an outdoor, multi-scalar, movement-based performance work by Emily Johnson/Catalyst, will take place on Saturday, July 22 at 6 pm on the grounds of the Hessel Museum of Art, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College (CCS Bard).

With a mission to develop a network of public programming focused on arts, education, and advocacy in Native American and Indigenous Studies, the Center for Indigenous Studies began its work in November 2022 following a transformational gift from the Gochman Family Foundation. “We are immensely fortunate to receive this visionary gift which has enabled the Center, whose public programming is brilliantly stewarded by Brandi Norton (Iñupiaq), to significantly expand commissions in support of innovative Indigenous artists and thinkers, develop new engagement and curriculum for all generations, and provide research opportunities for students throughout the Bard network,” said Christian Ayne Crouch, director of the Center for Indigenous Studies.

“Presenting the work of both Emily Johnson and Nicholas Galanin for the Center’s inaugural performances that surround this monumental exhibition is an honor,” said Curator of Public Programs at the Center for Indigenous Studies Brandi Norton. “We are so lucky to welcome them and their collaborators, whose artistry and vision will be sure to inspire our audiences.” The Center’s year-round programming serves to both provide a platform for the work of Indigenous theorists, artists, scholars, and activists, and also bring greater awareness to the public of Indigenous histories and contemporary events and issues. The selection of these two inaugural performances showcasing Emily Johnson/Catalyst and Nicholas Galanin and Ya Tseen powerfully demonstrate Indigenous excellence in a range of arts contexts.

Led by Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂), one of the most dynamic artists in contemporary art today, Ya Tseen will present music from their debut album Indian Yard. This electro-soul album advocates for Indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice, while exploring universal expressions of love, loss, desire and pain from the Indigenous perspective. On their participation in these inaugural performances, Galanin states: “To have a supported space like the Center for Indigenous Studies is essential. I am truly honored to participate in critical conversations in a continuum with generations of creative thought leaders.”

Emily Johnson (Yup’ik) is a Bessie Award–winning choreographer, Guggenheim and United States Artists fellow, and recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Award. Emily Johnson/Catalyst will perform Being Future Being: Land/Celestial on the grounds of the Hessel Museum. Being Future Being is a multi-scalar work created by Emily Johnson for the stage and beyond. Featuring a newly commissioned score by Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Raven Chacon and a stellar cast of performers, Being Future Being: Land/Celestial invites you into a series of intimate encounters with our more-than-human kin. As audiences journey to three separate outdoor locations, they form a powerful processional—one with the capacity to reshape the way we relate to ourselves, and to the human and more-than-human cohabitants of our worlds. Johnson is “thrilled for the possibilities a dedicated place for Indigenous brilliance, like the Center for Indigenous Studies, brings” and says, “I am happy we get to rise and stomp alongside brilliant artists/thinkers/makers here now, and into the future!”

The Center for Indigenous Studies at Bard College presents Being Future Being: Land/Celestial by Emily Johnson/Catalyst as part of a series of programming developed in partnership with CCS Bard to surround the exhibition Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969. For more information on this major exhibition, please visit Indian Theater.
 
Two artists talks moderated by the celebrated curator, writer, and researcher Candice Hopkins (Carcross/Tagish First Nation) will enrich the performance experience and will take place at CCS Bard. Nicholas Galanin will be in conversation with Rebecca Belmore (Lac Seul First Nation (Anishinaabe)) on June 25, and Emily Johnson will be in conversation with Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Band of Choctaw and Cherokee) on July 23.

Performances:
Ya Tseen at Spiegeltent, Fisher Center, June 24, 8:30pm
Purchase tickets here.

Being Future Being: Land/Celestial by Emily Johnson/Catalyst at CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art, July 22, 6 pm
Free registration here (required).

Artist Talks:
Rebecca Belmore and Nicholas Galanin, moderated by Candice Hopkins at CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art, June 25, 2 pm

Emily Johnson and Jeffrey Gibson, moderated by Candice Hopkins at CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art, July 23, 2 pm

These artist talks are free and open to the public; please arrive early as seating is limited.

The Center for Indigenous Studies at Bard College is excited to welcome you to Bard. In the spirit of truth and equity, it is with gratitude and humility that we acknowledge that we are gathered 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.

Bard College’s land acknowledgment was developed in dialogue with the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians. To learn more about the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, please visit www.mohican.com.

The Center for Indigenous Studies encourages all members of the Bard community and visitors to Bard’s Campus to please consider financially supporting the ongoing and essential work of the Mohican Cultural Affairs Department. Donations may be made here.
Being Future Being was commissioned by BroadStage at Santa Monica College (CA), and is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation and Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Bunnell Street Arts Center (AK); New York Live Arts (NY); Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (OR) and NPN, with contributions from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional commissioning and development support is provided by Dance/NYC’s Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by The Howard Gilman Foundation and Ford Foundation; Abrons Arts Center; University of Massachusetts Amherst Fine Arts Center; Portland Ovations; Jacob’s Pillow’s Pillow Lab Residency; a Movement Research Residency, funded by the Scherman Foundation’s Katharine S. and Axel G. Rosin Fund; and New York Live Arts’ Live Feed Residency with funding from Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Partners for New Performance.

The creation of Being Future Being was made possible in part with support from Native Arts and Cultures Foundation SHIFT: Transformative Change and Indigenous Arts Award, and New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation. About Bard College
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year, residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,000 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 13 programs; eight early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 163-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.

This event was last updated on 06-13-2023

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