Air Land Seed
An exhibition of Contemporary Indigenous Arts
University of Venice Ca' Foscari, Palazzo Cosulich, May 30 - June 2, 2013
The University of Wisconsin-Madison, The University of Venice, Ca' Foscari and The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) a center of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) proudly announce the opening of the Indigenous art exhibit Air Land Seed at the University of Venice Ca' Foscari, Palazzo Cosulich, May 30 at 5:00 PM on the occasion of the 55th Venice Biennale
Exhibiting artists include: Faisal Abdu-Allah, Emily Arthur, Marwin Begaye, John Hitchcock, Ryan O'Malley, Henry Payer, Duane Slick, C. Maxx Stevens, and Dyani White Hawk. Curators include: Elisabetta Frasca, Nancy Marie Mithlo, Paul Baker Prindle and Sarah Anne Stolte.
Air Land Seed addresses global tensions between home and exile, drawing from the unique perspectives of the indigenous peoples of Native North America. Nine contemporary artists engaged in the politicized medium of printmaking will exhibit works on paper, film and installation that question the forced displacements and ideologies that define our collective contemporary existence. This reappropriation of colonial markers - flags, boats and airwaves - subverts the control and militarization of indigenous homelands. Through participatory live print actions, performance, exhibition and dialogue, artists will repurpose these potent icons inscribed in the US Marine credo: "From the Halls of Montezuma, To the shores of Tripoli; We fight our country's battles, in the air, on land and sea."
Curated by a collaborative group of artists, art educators, and curators, Air Land Seed is our seventh Indigenous exhibition at the Venice Biennale (1999-2011) and the fifth collaborative event with the University of Venice.For more information on previous projects, please visit: Epicentro Re Tracing the Plains, Venice, Italy and Venice Biennale 1999 to 2009
In association with the exhibit, a symposium Convergence II will occur at the Casa del Cinema, Venice Italy: May 30, 2013 from 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM and will be chaired by Henry Drewal (Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Departments of Art History & Afro-American Studies) and Maria Luisa Ciminelli, (Universita? Ca' Foscari Venezia, Department of Historical Studies). Navajo poets Sherwin Bitsui and Luci Tapahonso will read their work at the University of Venice Ca' Foscari, Palazzo Cosulich opening Thursday May 30th 5:00 PM. Artist Faisal Abdu-Allah will present an interactive performance at the Palazzo Cosulich exhibit site Saturday June 1st at 10:00 AM.
Air Land Seed advisors include: Sonya Y. Clark, Diane R. Karp, Sarah K. Khan and Patsy Phillips. A parallel exhibition will occur June 29 - Sept. 21, 2013 at the non-profit artspace 516 Arts in Albuquerque, New Mexico in association with an artist residency hosted by the Santa Fe Art Institute.
Curators
Elisabetta Frasca (Independent Curator)
sienaschool.com/it/1214/Elisabetta-Frasca.htm
Nancy Marie Mithlo (Associate Professor of Art History and American Indian Studies, UW-Madison)
Paul Baker Prindle (Director of Galleries, University of Nevada, Reno) paulbakerprindle.com
Sarah Anne Stolte (M.A. Project Assistant/Doctoral candidate UW-Madison, Art History) arthistorygradforum.tumblr.com/people/stolte
Artists
Faisal Abdu-Allah (Senior Lecturer, Art School, University of East London and University of Wisconsin-Madison, Arts Institute Artist-in-Residence Spring 2013) artist website
Emily Arthur (Associate Professor, Department of Art and Design, University of North Florida) emilyarthur.org
Marwin Begaye (Assistant Professor of Printmaking and Painting, School of Art and Art History, University of Oklahoma)
artist profile
John Hitchcock (Professor, Department of Art, UW-Madison)
hybridpress.net
Ryan O'Malley (Assistant Professor of Art, Department of Art, Texas A&M University, Corpus Chrisiti) artist profile
Henry Payer (UW-Madison MA/MFA Graduate candidate)
tweed.wp.d.umn.edu/participants/henry-payer
Duane Slick (Professor of Painting and Printmaking, Rhode Island School of Design)
duaneslickstudios.com
C. Maxx Stevens (Assistant Professor & Area Coordinator, Foundations, Department of Art and Art History, University of Colorado Boulder)
artist profile
Dyani White Hawk (Arts Project Manager, All My Relations Gallery)
dyaniwhitehawk.com
Participants
Catalog Contributors
Katie Apsey (M.A. Project Assistant/Doctoral candidate UW-Madison, Art History)
arthistorygradforum.tumblr.com/people/apsey
Gloria Bell (Editor, Aboriginal Curatorial Collective)
facebook.com/aboriginalcuratorialcollective
metisramblings.blogspot.com
Anna Stephens (Printmaker)
cargocollective.com/a_stephns/Anna-Stephens
Poets
Sherwin Bitsui
www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sherwin-bitsui
Luci Tapahanso
www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/luci-tapahonso
Symposium co-conveners
Maria Luisa Ciminelli (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Department of Historical Studies) www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria-Ciminelli
Henry John Drewal (Evjue-Bascom Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Departments of Art History & Afro-American Studies) henrydrewal.com
Advisors
Sonya Y. Clark (Chair, Craft/Materials Department, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA)
sonyaclark.com
Sarah K. Khan (Founder and Director of The Tasting Cultures Foundation, Inc.) tastingcultures.org
tastingcultures.blogspot.com
sarahkkhan.org
Institutions
City of Venice, Casa del Cinema:
www.casadelcinema.it/
Copper Canyon Press
coppercanyonpress.org
Edgewood College
www.edgewood.edu
Institute of American Indian Arts, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts:
www.iaia.edu
www.iaia.edu/museum
Santa Fe Arts Institute
www.sfai.org
University of Venice Ca' Foscari
www.unive.it/pag/13526
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Art Department website: art.wisc.edu
Art History Department website: arthistory.wisc.edu
Afro-American Studies Department website: afroamericanstudies.wisc.edu
American Indian Studies Department website: amindian.wisc.edu
Arts Institute website: artsdivision.wisc.edu/
516 Arts (Suzanne Sbarge, Executive Director)
516Arts.org
Design
John Paul Rangel (Art Director, Asphalt Apache Design)
www.linkedin.com/in/john-paul-rangel-b1636191/
Sallie Wesaw Sloan (Designer, Museum of Contemporay Native Arts, A center of Institute of American Indian Arts)
Acknowledgements
Giancarlo Adorno and family
Marion H. Baker Fund for the Arts
Anna Cardinaletti, Professor and Head of Department, Universita? Ca' Foscari Venezia, Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali Comparati
La Casa del Cinema
Mario Di Martino, Studio Dal Ponte, Venice
www.studioantoniodalponte.it
Federico Giugie, Osteria dal Pampo
Giulio Marra, Professor, Universita? Ca' Foscari Venezia, Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali Comparati
For details in Venice please contact: Studio dal Ponte at: studiodalponte@libero.it tel. (041) 523-9315