Boston University Arts Initiative presents Natural Wanderment: Stewardship. Sovereignty. Sacredness. at BU Art Galleries
Boston University Arts Initiative presents Natural Wanderment: Stewardship. Sovereignty. Sacredness. at BU Art Galleries
In the exhibition, part of Project 562, Matika Wilbur achieved the impossible: photographing someone from each of the federally recognized tribes in America, all 562 at the time of the project’s inception.
The book, a love letter to Indigenous Americans, contains hundreds of stunning portraits and compelling personal narratives making clear Native people are diverse and contemporary, counteracting one-dimensional and archaic stereotypes of Native people in mainstream media.
Boston University Arts Initiative, in partnership with Boston University Art Galleries, announces a special exhibition at 808 Gallery in spring 2024: Natural Wanderment: Stewardship. Sovereignty. Sacredness., which is part of the expansive Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America. The book by the same name was published in April 2023, and instantly became a New York Times Best Seller.
Created by acclaimed visual artist and social documentarian Matika Wilbur, who is from the Tulalip & Swinomish Tribes, Project 562 is a bold creative expedition to collaborate with each of the 562-plus sovereign Native American nations in the United States in their own territories for superb photographic portraits and compelling narratives of contemporary Native American identity. Over the course of producing Project 562, Wilbur traveled through all 50 states, from Seminole country, now known as the Everglades in South Florida, to Inuit territory, now known as the Bering Sea in Alaska. By her estimation, she photographed some 1200 people, personally visiting about 400 different tribes. This creative, consciousness-shifting work is now distributed as curricula in partnership with the National Education Association: “A Visual Leaning Guide to Transform, Indigenize & Decolonize,” in her 416 page book published by Ten Speed Press, at various exhibitions around the world, through her podcast All My Relations, and at Project562.com.
Wilbur’s goal is to unveil the dynamic identity, consciousness, and expression of the numerous distinct indigenous peoples of the nation, especially the positivity of Tribal existence. “I look for our heroes and we have them – they walk among us,” says Wilbur, whose mission includes producing vital “healing imagery” so desperately needed by Native American youths while fostering intense visibility and interconnectedness among Native peoples. Wilbur’s innovative artistry in documenting the peoples and stories of Project 562 has enjoyed tremendous national and international success and appeal, with multifaceted, passionate support to build cultural bridges, abolish stereotypes, and renew and inspire a national legacy.
Natural Wanderment: Stewardship. Sovereignty. Sacredness. is based on perhaps the most important truth Wilbur has discovered in her journey to date: that ancestral land is the basis of Native American identity. “I have had to experience for myself the incredible range of homelands of tribal nations, to interact with peoples in their ancient territories to grasp how the connection to natural places makes us who we are.”
Despite western ideologies and systems that undermine this living truth, reflects Wilbur, there remain the “people of the blue green water,” the “people of the tall pine trees,” the “people of the tide.” Wilbur’s portrait art expresses the “ecological being” of sitters, imbuing these images and narratives with the aspiration and force of the original stewards of the land, which is crucial to not only the sovereignty and dignity of Native Americans, but also the preservation and majesty of the natural world. This special show is being offered at this juncture to share these people’s vital work and understanding and to explore the extraordinary landscapes of Native America. It will be on view in 808 Gallery at Boston University from January 18 – March 9, 2024. BU’s 808 Gallery offers free admission and is open to the public.
EXHIBITION & PROGRAMMING DETAILS
Natural Wanderment, Stewardship Sovereignty Sacredness
808 Gallery, 808 Commonwealth Ave., Brookline, MA
January 18 – March 9, 2024
Learn more: www.bu.edu/art
VISIT BU ART GALLERIES
HOURS
Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-5pm. Closed on Sundays, Mondays, and holidays.
FREE ADMISSION
All exhibitions are free and open to the public.
LOCATION
Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery
855 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (first floor)
Boston University’s Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery is located at 855 Commonwealth Avenue inside Boston University College of Fine Arts and is accessible via the B Green line Amory Street Station. Visitor parking is available at the Agganis Arena parking lot at 925 Commonwealth Avenue. For more information on transportation, visit bu.edu/art/visit.
The Boston University Arts Initiative ensures that the arts are fundamental to the student experience by developing and supporting university-wide programs to advance the role of the arts at BU through building community; supporting interdisciplinary arts teaching, learning, and research; and highlighting diverse artists and modes of artistry. For more information on BUAI’s current and upcoming programming, visit bu.edu/arts.
The Boston University Art Galleries (BUAG) is located at 855 Commonwealth Avenue inside the College of Fine Arts. The gallery is located on the Boston University campus (Amory Street stop on the “B” Green Line.) Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 11am–5pm, (Closed Sundays, Mondays and Holidays.) For more information, visit bu.edu/art.
Established in 1954, Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is a community of artist-scholars and scholar-artists who are passionate about the fine and performing arts, committed to diversity and inclusion, and determined to improve the lives of others through art. With programs in Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts, CFA prepares students for a meaningful creative life by developing their intellectual capacity to create art, shift perspective, think broadly, and master relevant skills. CFA offers a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs, as well as a range of online degrees and certificates. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa
Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 34,000 students, it is the fourth-largest independent university in the United States. BU consists of 17 schools and colleges, along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes integral to the University’s research and teaching mission. In 2012, BU joined the Association of American Universities (AAU), a consortium of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. Learn more at bu.edu.