No Word for Art in Our Language?: Old Questions, New Paradigms

Mithlo, Nancy Marie

doi:10.1353/wic.2012.0005

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Whereas earlier debates centered around the contrast of entertainment or education in the museum, our discussion of racial and cultural variables seeks to expand current frames of analysis that assume a linear and authoritative structure by embracing an Indigenous research methodology of non‐hierarchical leadership and learning. Mithlo (2012) defines this curatorial approach as American Indian Curatorial Practice, which is premised on the following attributes – work that is long‐term, reciprocal, mutually‐meaningful and with mentorship. These four criteria both insure that museum work is coherent with Native community needs while providing structure for intercultural exchanges.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspective‐Taking Can Lead to Increased Bias: A Call for ‘Less Certain’ Positions in American Indian Contexts

Mithlo¹,

Sherman²

2020

Curator The Museum Journal

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This paper presents findings from research conducted by two U.S. scholars from divergent disciplinary fields (Indigenous studies, cognitive science) and backgrounds (Chiricahua Apache, first‐generation U.S. immigrant) under a National Endowment for the Arts grant (2015‐2018). Our goal was to assess perceptions of American Indian peoples reflected in verbal responses (and in the lab settings, eye gaze) to historic photographs with the aim of enhancing visual competencies and deepening cultural interpretation in museum settings. Data was drawn from museum visitors at the Autry Museum of the American West and undergraduate students in a lab setting at Occidental College, both in Los Angeles, CA. Our findings indicate that perspective‐taking methods employed across both field sites do not alter enmeshed and persistent bias for interpreting American Indian lives. Participants who took the perspective of the subject and even adequately visually described the photograph still tended to engage in conventional narratives (i.e. stereotypes) unrooted in comprehension of living Native communities. These findings starkly expose the distance that largely non‐Native institutions must travel to fully reach the equity and inclusion efforts museums aspire to. Generalized diversity efforts in museum education based on empathy or simple description (as found in Visual Thinking Strategies) are not effective means of comprehending difference as viewers are not equipped to adequately draw independent conclusions free of bias. We argue that, especially in museum settings, where emotions are heightened, educators may productively consider methods of encouraging visitors to forestall conclusion‐making and to embrace uncertainty.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspective‐Taking Can Lead to Increased Bias: A Call for ‘Less Certain’ Positions in American Indian Contexts

Mithlo¹,

Sherman²

2020

Curator The Museum Journal

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“…Although flexibility as a commitment to change or accommodation can be understood as interlocking with reciprocity, which many Indigenous studies scholars have highlighted as necessary for decolonial, community-engaged work (Smith 2013;Mithlo 2012;Wilson 2008), we believe it is worth highlighting flexibility separately. We imagine that as universities continue to adopt land acknowledgments, more academics will consider the importance of conducting community-engaged, reciprocal, and sustained work with Indigenous communities beyond the mainstream, negative connotations of the "performative" (Barajas 2022).…”

Section: The Value Of Flexibility In Decolonial Community-engaged Workmentioning

confidence: 94%

Performativity, Possibility, and Land Acknowledgments in Academia: Community-Engaged Work as Decolonial Praxis in the COVID-19 Context

Roth

Wakpa

2023

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At the intersection of dance, performance, and Indigenous studies, this essay reflects on how an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles—with the support of a graduate student researcher—has aimed to put an Indigenous land acknowledgment into praxis through community-engaged work. In academic settings, land acknowledgments are often given prior to an event and may circulate on written materials, such as event programs, syllabi, letterhead, departmental and research centre websites, and email signatures. Based on Indigenous protocols, these statements typically identify the original Indigenous peoples whose land the university currently occupies; they should also be created in collaboration with Indigenous leaders from the tribe(s). Indigenous land acknowledgments can be important because they directly combat the injustice of settler-capitalist, mainstream discourses that often obscure Indigenous peoples and practices or relegate them to the historical past. Yet, Indigenous people and Indigenous studies scholars have critiqued non-Native land acknowledgments as “performative.” Without direct material benefits to Indigenous peoples, land acknowledgments can serve as empty gestures that “perform” university commitments to anti-racism, equity, diversity, and inclusion. In contrast to the “performative” as an empty gesture, the fields of performance and dance studies frequently theorize “performativity” as a material action that can function both hegemonically and subversively. This essay argues that community-engaged research, teaching, and service—which the authors view holistically—are key ways to begin or further the process of putting a university’s land acknowledgment into action.

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“…Propuestas como las de Bishop (2018), quien señala que lo contemporáneo puede entenderse como una forma de tensionar el pasado con el presente y que "procura navegar múltiples tempo- ralidades dentro de un horizonte más político" (p. 34), pueden ser una vía para intervenir espacios como el MTO, cuyo propósito puede ser reimaginado como un archivo de lo común y no como un depósito de tesoros fruto del colonialismo. Sin embargo, insisto en pensar en el papel central de la curaduría como una forma de soberanía retórica, como lo propone Scott Richard Lyons (2000); una metodología de trabajo de largo aliento, mutuamente significativo, recíproco, como sugiere Nancy Marie Mithlo (2012), quien lo nombra "American Indian Curatorial Practices" (p. 119); como una forma de sanación de heridas coloniales, como lo propone Francisco Huichaqueo, quien acertadamente pone sobre la mesa que "uno está trabajando con una historia de dolor reciente" (Córdova et al, 2018, s. p.), y sin olvidar lo que Elvira Espejo ha apuntado en conversaciones y con su práctica curatorial misma: como investigadores indígenas tenemos el compromiso y la obligación de que estos conocimientos sean sistematizados, teorizados y circulados en términos comunitarios. Por eso mismo, no podemos dejar pasar el hecho de que todas estas iniciativas están llevadas a cabo en una ciudad colonial y turística como Oaxaca y por agentes provenientes de élites bancarias, culturales y políticas.…”

Section: Imagen 7 Nez Viendo Yalaltecas Fotografía: Ariadna Solis 2022unclassified

Lhall xallona llun lliu'tuse, llunen lliu walh / Vestir también es un territorio de lucha: Curadurías colectivas e investigaciones transdisciplinarias

Solis

2023

Iberoforum

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Este texto presenta algunas reflexiones recopiladas a lo largo del proceso de curaduría y exhibición de la exposición “Lhall xallona llun lliu'tuse, llunen lliu walh / Vestir también es un territorio de lucha”. Una muestra sobre la complejidad de significaciones que tienen nuestros objetos textiles en el contexto, el uso y los afectos comunitarios: como una forma de pertenencia colectiva, como territorio de lucha y como resistencia a otras formas de existir y ser en el mundo; al mismo tiempo, la muestra evidencia y actualiza las alianzas generacionales que las mujeres han sostenido a través de luchas por la representación y la visibilidad. Esta exhibición tuvo lugar de octubre de 2022 a febrero de 2023 en el Museo Textil de Oaxaca (MTO) y fue realizada en colaboración con el colectivo Dill Yel Nbán.

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No Word for Art in Our Language?: Old Questions, New Paradigms

Cited by 10 publications

References 7 publications

Perspective‐Taking Can Lead to Increased Bias: A Call for ‘Less Certain’ Positions in American Indian Contexts

Perspective‐Taking Can Lead to Increased Bias: A Call for ‘Less Certain’ Positions in American Indian Contexts

Performativity, Possibility, and Land Acknowledgments in Academia: Community-Engaged Work as Decolonial Praxis in the COVID-19 Context

Lhall xallona llun lliu'tuse, llunen lliu walh / Vestir también es un territorio de lucha: Curadurías colectivas e investigaciones transdisciplinarias

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