A new exhibition is now on view at Syracuse University Art Museum featuring more than 52 contemporary artworks by Indigenous artists from all six Haudenosaunee Nations across what is now New York.
This exhibit takes a closer look at the multiple sources of inspiration in contemporary Haudenosaunee art including: treaties, the natural world, community and family members, ancestors, oral histories, and connection to land.
“Collectively, the artworks in this exhibit break convention by challenging the expected, disrupting stereotypes, and interrupting non-Haudenosaunee historical narratives,” said Vanja Malloy, director and chief curator of Syracuse University Art Museum. “As the artists and their works demonstrate in this exhibit, the continuous trajectory of Haudenosaunee art has been in existence since long before 1607 and the arrival of Europeans.”
“Each One Inspired: Haudenosaunee Art across the Homelands” will give visitors a sense of the dynamic, loud, punchy, glittering, somber, and intricate ways Haudenosaunee artists respond to, react to, and draw inspiration from their communities and histories; in doing so, this exhibit asks visitors to question their own relationships to Indigenous histories, people, and lands.
The exhibition is curated by Gwendolyn Saul, curator of ethnography at New York State Museum in Albany. The works in the exhibition come from the New York State Museum’s contemporary Native Art collection consisting of more than 150 original artworks by artists whose ancestral lands lie within what is now New York state. The majority of artwork featured in “Each One Inspired: Haudenosaunee Art Across the Homelands” comes from new art acquisitions made during the past 6 years.
“The exhibition beautifully accentuates Haudenosaunee aesthetic voices, creativity, resilience, and resistance. It is important that these voices be honored at Syracuse University, which sits on the unceded lands of the Onondaga Nation,” said Syracuse University associate professor Sascha Scott who is a specialist in 19th- and 20th- century American art and Native North American art and a member of the Native American and Indigenous Studies faculty.
Haudenosaunee is an alliance of native nations united for the past several hundred years by complementary traditions, beliefs, and cultural values. Sometimes referred to as the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations, the Haudenosaunee consist of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations.
Special Events
Artist Talk: Ronnie-Leigh Goeman
12:15 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 3
Syracuse University Art Museum
“Each One, Inspired” exhibiting artist Ronnie-Leigh Goeman (Onondaga) will offer a lunchtime lecture about her artwork on display, as well as show examples of her other basketry work and discuss the various materials including samples of the tree and grass used.
“The Good Mind” Film Screening and Panel Discussion
2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 6
Shemin Auditorium, Shaffer Art Building
“The Good Mind,” an award-winning feature documentary film, will be presented in correlation with the current art museum exhibition “Each One, Inspired: Haudenosaunee Art Across the Homelands,” as well as in celebration of Native Heritage Month. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Gwendolen Cates, Oren Lyons, Jake Edwards, Joe Heath, and Theresa Bear-Fox.
A reception will follow at the museum, which will be open until 6 p.m. for visitors to enjoy the exhibition. Sponsored by the Syracuse University Art Museum, Department of Religion, and The Indigenous Values Initiative.
Artist Talk: Grant Jonathan
2:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 16
121 Shaffer Art Building
“Each One, Inspired” artist Grant Jonathan presents on Tuscarora beadwork history and Niagara Falls, how the beading skills are engrained in each family at Tuscarora, and how he acquired his skills as well as built a personal collection of historical works.
Check the museum’s website for more public programs that will be added in the coming weeks https://museum.syr.edu/calendar/
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