13.1 Emerging trends and innovations in Indigenous art

Indigenous art is evolving rapidly, blending traditional techniques with cutting-edge technology. Artists like Brian Jungen and Kent Monkman push boundaries, transforming everyday objects and subverting colonial narratives. They're using their work to challenge stereotypes and address pressing social issues.

Digital tools and social media are revolutionizing how Indigenous artists create and share their work. From 3D printing to virtual reality, these technologies offer new ways to explore Indigenous stories and worldviews. Meanwhile, global art markets are opening doors for Indigenous artists to reach wider audiences and gain international recognition.

Contemporary Indigenous Art and Innovation

Boundary-Pushing Artists

Top images from around the web for Boundary-Pushing Artists

• 

  "Exotic Landscapes" by Brian Robinson, on display at Cairn… | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Brian Jungen, Totem Poles from Golf Bags, 2007 | Anthony Easton | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  "Trappers of Men" by Kent Monkman (close-up) | Kent Monkman,… | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  "Exotic Landscapes" by Brian Robinson, on display at Cairn… | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Brian Jungen, Totem Poles from Golf Bags, 2007 | Anthony Easton | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 3

Top images from around the web for Boundary-Pushing Artists

• 

  "Exotic Landscapes" by Brian Robinson, on display at Cairn… | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Brian Jungen, Totem Poles from Golf Bags, 2007 | Anthony Easton | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  "Trappers of Men" by Kent Monkman (close-up) | Kent Monkman,… | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  "Exotic Landscapes" by Brian Robinson, on display at Cairn… | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Brian Jungen, Totem Poles from Golf Bags, 2007 | Anthony Easton | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 3

• Contemporary Indigenous artists challenge conventional notions of Indigenous art through innovative techniques, provocative themes, and boundary-pushing works
  • Brian Jungen (Dane-zaa) transforms everyday objects like sneakers and plastic chairs into sculptural masks and totems
  • Kent Monkman (Cree) subverts colonial art history through his campy alter-ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle
  • Rebecca Belmore (Anishinaabe) creates powerful performance art and installations addressing violence against Indigenous women
• Christi Belcourt (Métis) blends traditional motifs with contemporary issues in her intricate beadwork-inspired paintings
  • Her "Revolution of Love" series celebrates the resilience and resurgence of Indigenous peoples
  • Belcourt's collaborations with fashion brands like Valentino bring Indigenous aesthetics to haute couture
• Sonny Assu (Ligwilda'xw Kwakwaka'wakw) uses pop art aesthetics to critique colonialism and consumerism
  • His "Breakfast Series" depicts cereal boxes with unsettling images of residential schools and land dispossession
  • Assu's "iDrum" app allows users to create digital beats using traditional Kwakwaka'wakw drum patterns

Multidisciplinary Innovators

• Jeffrey Gibson (Choctaw-Cherokee) incorporates elements of his Indigenous heritage with influences from club culture, modernism, and fashion in his multidisciplinary works
  • Gibson's intricately beaded punching bags and textile-based sculptures mix Indigenous craft with contemporary forms
  • His performances and videos feature elaborately costumed dancers moving to powwow drums and electronic beats
• Skawennati (Mohawk) is a pioneering new media artist who explores Indigenous futurism and virtual worlds
  • Her machinima series "TimeTraveller™" follows a 22nd-century Mohawk man revisiting historical events in a virtual environment
  • Skawennati's "She Falls For Ages" reimagines the Haudenosaunee creation story in a sci-fi virtual reality experience
  • Her Second Life avatar xox appears as a cyberpunk-inflected trickster figure in digital performances and still images

Indigenous Art and New Media

Digital Tools and Technologies

• Indigenous artists embrace digital tools to create works that blend customary patterns, symbols, and aesthetics with contemporary fabrication methods
  • 3D printing allows artists to translate traditional designs into sculptural forms (Sonny Assu's "Continuum" series)
  • Laser cutting enables precision and intricacy in works inspired by beadwork, quillwork, and carving (Meghann O'Brien's basketry-inspired textiles)
  • Graphic design software facilitates the creation of complex, layered compositions (Christi Belcourt's digital paintings)
• Virtual and augmented reality technologies create immersive experiences that transport viewers into Indigenous stories, landscapes, and worldviews
  • Scott Benesiinaabandan's (Anishinaabe) VR work "Blueberry Pie Under the Martian Sky" envisions an Anishinaabe settlement on Mars
  • Paisley Smith (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh) and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun's AR app "Unceded Territories" maps Yuxweluptun's surreal landscapes onto real-world sites

Social Media and Community Building

• Indigenous artists use social media platforms to showcase their work, engage with audiences, and build global communities
  • Nadia Myre (Anishinaabe) shares in-progress shots and hosts beading circles on Instagram, inviting followers to participate virtually
  • Meghann O'Brien (Haida-Kwakwaka'wakw) uses Facebook to connect with far-flung apprentices and organize weaving workshops
  • The "#callresponse" project, co-organized by Tarah Hogue (Métis-Dutch), Maria Hupfield (Anishinaabe), and Tania Willard (Secwepemc), facilitated collaborations and conversations between Indigenous women artists via social media
• Hashtag movements like #RockYourMocs and #DentaliumDress promote cultural pride and visibility by encouraging Indigenous people to share photos of themselves wearing traditional clothing and accessories

Remixing and Recontextualizing Archives

• Indigenous artists remix and recontextualize archival materials through digital manipulation, projection mapping, and multimedia installations to reclaim histories and challenge colonial narratives
  • Kent Monkman's "Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience" inserts his gender-fluid alter ego Miss Chief into historical paintings and photographs
  • Caroline Monnet (Anishinaabe-French) digitally alters archival photos of Indigenous women in her series "Reminiscence" to restore their power and presence
  • The "Native Love" mural by Jaque Fragua (Jemez Pueblo) and Nani Chacon (Diné-Chicana) remixes Edward Curtis photos with contemporary imagery celebrating Indigenous resilience and resistance

Globalization's Impact on Indigenous Art

Global Art Markets and Recognition

• Increased access to global art markets and international exhibitions enables Indigenous artists to reach wider audiences, build professional networks, and gain recognition
  • Major shows like the Venice Biennale and Documenta have featured Indigenous artists from around the world (Isuma, Postcommodity, Mata Aho Collective)
  • Art fairs like the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Indigenous Fine Art Market showcase Indigenous artists to international collectors and curators
  • Online platforms like the Indigenous Curatorial Collective and the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation connect Indigenous artists with opportunities and resources
• The rise of global Indigenous art movements connects artists across continents in envisioning decolonized futures
  • 'Indigenous Futurism' and 'Ancestral Futurism' movements use speculative fiction, afrofuturism, and Indigenous cosmologies to imagine alternative realities (Elizabeth LaPensée's games, Skawennati's "She Falls For Ages")
  • The 'Sovereign Traces' book series, edited by Stephen Graham Jones (Blackfeet) and Elise Marubbio, collects Indigenous science fiction and fantasy from around the world

Cross-Cultural Collaborations and Exchanges

• Cross-cultural collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists lead to innovative works that bridge cultural divides, foster dialogue, and generate new artistic vocabularies
  • Wendat artist Teharihulen Michel Savard's collaboration with French artist Sophie Krier resulted in "Hétep'Sasa / Wampum 57," a wampum belt encoding the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  • The "Requiem for the Sublime" installation by Métis artist Amy Malbeuf and Iranian artist Neda Razavipour mourns the destruction of sacred lands by oil pipelines
  • Inuk artist Asinnajaq's film "Three Thousand" juxtaposes archival footage from the NFB with contemporary scenes to explore the resilience of Inuit culture
• Indigenous artists participate in international residencies, exchanges, and workshops to share knowledge, techniques, and perspectives
  • The "Social Seams" project brought together Indigenous artists from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand to collaborate on site-specific works
  • The "EARTHLINE Tattoo School" founded by Dion Kaszas (Nlaka'pamux) offers training in traditional Indigenous tattooing practices to artists from around the world

Issues of Appropriation and Commodification

• The appropriation and commodification of Indigenous art by non-Indigenous makers raises issues around cultural ownership, authenticity, and ethical practices in the global art market
  • Non-Indigenous fashion brands have come under fire for using Indigenous designs without permission or compensation (Urban Outfitters' "Navajo" line)
  • The sale of counterfeit Indigenous artworks and knockoffs undermines the livelihoods of Indigenous artists and the integrity of their cultures
  • Initiatives like the Indian Arts and Crafts Act in the US and the Indigenous Art Code in Australia aim to protect Indigenous artists from exploitation and misrepresentation
• Indigenous curators, scholars, and arts professionals are advocating for greater control over the representation and interpretation of Indigenous arts in museums and the marketplace
  • The "Unceded: Voices of the Land" exhibition at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale was the first Indigenous-led representation of Canada at the event
  • The First Peoples' Cultural Council in BC has developed protocols for working with Indigenous artists and communities to ensure fair compensation and cultural sensitivity

Indigenous Art and Social Change

Advocating for Indigenous Rights and Sovereignty

• Contemporary Indigenous artists use their practices to advocate for Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and self-determination in the face of ongoing colonialism, racism, and marginalization
  • Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Salish-Kootenai) addresses issues like land rights, environmental justice, and cultural appropriation in her mixed-media paintings and prints
  • Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun (Coast Salish) confronts the impacts of colonialism on Indigenous peoples and lands in his surrealist landscapes and figurative works
  • Marianne Nicolson's (Dzawada'enuxw) monumental light installations assert Indigenous presence and resilience in the face of colonial erasure ("The Rivers Monument" in Victoria, BC)
• Indigenous artists engage in direct action, protest, and advocacy to support Indigenous struggles for sovereignty and self-determination
  • Performance artist Ursula Johnson (Mi'kmaq) lock picked herself inside the Nova Scotia Provincial Legislature to protest the Alton Gas project's threat to Mi'kmaq treaty rights and lands
  • The Rematriate Collective of Inuit women tattoo artists traveled to Greenland to tattoo 80 women with traditional Inuit designs as a form of cultural reclamation and healing

Confronting Environmental and Extractive Issues

• Indigenous artists directly confront issues like land dispossession, resource extraction, and environmental degradation on Indigenous territories
  • Christi Belcourt's "The Wisdom of the Universe" mural depicts medicinal plants threatened by climate change and industrial development
  • Nicholas Galanin's (Tlingit-Unangax̂) "Never Forget" excavates the shape of a burial ground on the grounds of a former residential school, calling attention to the legacies of colonialism on the land
  • The Tiny House Warriors project led by Kanahus Manuel (Secwepemc) and Isha Jules (Secwepemc-Nuu-chah-nulth) builds and places tiny houses along the route of the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to assert Secwepemc sovereignty

Challenging Representation and Confronting Violence

• Indigenous women artists challenge stereotypical representations of Indigenous femininity and address the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women
  • Shelley Niro's (Mohawk) photography series "Mohawks in Beehives" and "This Land is Mime Land" subvert racist and sexist stereotypes of Indigenous women as either princesses or squaws
  • Lori Blondeau's (Cree-Saulteaux-Métis) performance persona "Belle Sauvage" and "CosmoSquaw" magazine covers satirize the objectification and commodification of Indigenous women's bodies
  • Rebecca Belmore's "Vigil" performance and "The Named and the Unnamed" installation honor the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women and critique the legal system's failures to protect them
• Indigenous artists interrogate the impacts of mass incarceration, police brutality, and the prison industrial complex on Indigenous communities
  • Merritt Johnson's (Mohawk-Blackfoot) "Exorcising America" paintings and performances address the disproportionate incarceration of Indigenous people and the use of prison labor to exploit Indigenous lands
  • Cannupa Hanska Luger's (Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara) mirrored shield project at Standing Rock provided water protectors with a reflective surface to confront police violence and surveillance
  • Gilda Posada's (Aztec) "Mujeres Rising" mural uplifts the stories of women fighting for justice both inside and outside prison walls

Art as Resistance and Resurgence

• Indigenous art collectives use public installations, interventions, and performances to contest borders, critique capitalism, and enact Indigenous values of relationality and reciprocity
  • Postcommodity's "Repellent Fence" installation strung 26 giant scare-eye balloons across the US-Mexico border to challenge the militarization and surveillance of Indigenous lands
  • Winter Count's "Insurgence/Resurgence" gathering brought together Indigenous artists, activists, and land defenders to build solidarity and resistance through art and direct action
  • The ReMatriate Collective's "Sínulkhay and Ladders" installation wove cedar bark mats and ladders to materialize Sḵwx̱wú7mesh weaving practices and stories in the face of urban development
• Indigenous artists and curators are creating spaces for Indigenous art to flourish on its own terms, outside of colonial institutions and expectations
  • The Daphne Odjig Gallery at the National Gallery of Canada is the first dedicated space for Indigenous art at the institution, centering Indigenous curatorial voices and perspectives
  • The yəhaw̓ Indigenous art project in Seattle, co-curated by Tracy Rector (Choctaw-Seminole), Asia Tail (Cherokee), and Satpreet Kahlon, took over a vacant building to showcase over 200 Indigenous artists from the Pacific Northwest
  • The "Àbadakone / Continuous Fire / Feu continuel" exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, curated by Greg Hill (Kanyen'kehaka), Christine Lalonde (Acadian), and Rachelle Dickenson, brought together over 70 Indigenous artists from around the world to celebrate global Indigenous creative practices and connections