2023 Exhibtions and News

Inherent Memory February 24–June 25, 2023

IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts108 Cathedral Pl, Santa Fe, NM 87501 South Gallery

Inherent Memory features contemporary Indigenous basketry-related art created by Indigenous women and nonbinary artists from California and the Great Basin, including painting, sculpture, multimedia, basketry, poetry, video, and photography. This exhibition aims to raise awareness of contemporary Indigenous art from these areas and to educate museum audiences about Great Basin Tribal arts and culture, including the importance of basketry. Inherent Memory will showcase the work of 19 artists from this underrepresented area. Several of these artists have been IAIA artists-in-residence and IAIA alumna. Exhibiting artists include Sarah Biscarra Dilley (Northern Chumash), whose multimedia video layers basketry images over landscapes of her homelands, exploring the spaces between the worlds of bloodlines, bodies, and the land. Artist and activist Fawn Douglas (Las Vegas Paiute Tribe) shares and preserves stories of Indigenous Peoples, the natural world, and the environment through sculptural baskets, bracelets made of willow, and basketry-inspired paintings. Brittany Britton (Hupa) creates burden baskets made of loosely twined wire. Natalie Ball’s (Klamath, Modoc, and African American) work addresses racial narratives critical to the understanding of self and nation, as well as shared experiences and histories. Other featured artists include Ka’ila Farrell-Smith (Klamath and Modoc), Leah Mata Fragua (Northern Chumash), Monique Sol Sonoquie (Chumash, Apache, Yaqui, Zapotec), Lena Tseabbe Wright (Nevada Paiute and Yurok), and Tanaya Winder (Southern Ute, Duckwater Shoshone, Pyramid Lake Paiute, Diné, and African American). Inherent Memory is guest-curated by mixed-media artist Melissa Melero Moose (Northern Paiute and Modoc).