This was a virtual event streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Watch a recording of the discussion below:

The National Museum of the American Indian’s (NMAI’s) collection, an extensive repository of Native American and First Nations artifacts, has profoundly reoriented its collection practices in the last few decades: placing expertise and authority in the Indigenous communities which it serves rather than in the museum itself.

But what does this shift look like in practice? How are Indigenous artists engaging with NMAI’s collections today? How can collection care be reimagined further, to better serve Indigenous communities?

Join Kidspace exhibiting artist Wendy Red Star, guest-curator of the first module of CARE SYLLABUS—a collaborative project of MASS MoCA and MCLA—artists Tanis S’eiltin and Peter Morin; as well as Christine Oricchio, Collections Specialist at the National Museum of the American Indian, for a roundtable discussion about these questions, driven by engagement with artworks and objects in the NMAI collection.

The event will be streamed live on Facebook and Youtube on January 26.

About CARE SYLLABUS
Launched by MCLA and MASS MoCA, CARE SYLLABUS is a justice-oriented public education and community resource featuring original text, visual media, recordings, and virtual events by activists, artists, and academics. For more information about CARE SYLLABUS head to caresyllabus.org.

CARE SYLLABUS is a project of THE MIND’S EYE—a research and praxis initiative of MCLA in collaboration with MASS MoCA.

Detail from Wendy Red Star, Baaitchi (Good Things), 2020, from Bíiluuke (Our Side) series