Land of Extremes
“Our People, Our Land, Our Images” comes to the Imperial Valley Desert Museum.
November marks a new month and new slate of programs at the Imperial Valley Desert Museum. To kick things off, we are excited to launch a major temporary exhibit: “Our People, Our Land, Our Images,” a national, traveling showcase of 51 historic and contemporary photographs, taken by 26 indigenous artists from across the globe.
Eight week traveling exhibit
It is exciting to get a traveling exhibit at any museum. Normally, it takes months of planning and many staff hours to make sure walls are built, the exhibit in drawn and laid out on paper, art is unpacked and checked in.
Not here! A couple weeks ago we got a call from the Mid West Arts Alliance that “Our People, Our Land, Our Images” had been cancelled at its next stop and we had an opportunity to bring it to the Imperial Valley Desert Museum. Though with a tight schedule, we said yes to the chance at bringing a national traveling exhibit to the Imperial Valley – one that otherwise would never be available in our region.
“Our People, Our Land, Our Images” where Native Peoples use the camera to tell their own stories through their own eyes.
First conceived and organized by the University of California, Davis and its Curator, Veronica Passalacqua, “Our People, Our Land, Our Images” has toured across the United States for the last two years.
The exhibit showcases the photography of artists from the United States, Canada, Peru, Iraq, and New Zealand. With the earliest photographs dating back to 1899, this exhibit captures the long and enduring history – culture, struggles, and celebrations – of indigenous peoples. Within it, sweeping narratives of pivotal moments in the history of the various tribes are shown alongside individual portraits and personal stories.
Fast work in a week
The exhibit shipped to the Desert Museum at the beginning of this week. Within a few short days, the museum spaces had to be transformed into temporary photograph galleries. By the end of the week, each piece of artwork had to be unpacked, an inspection report written, and a location in the gallery sequence identified.
In preparation for “Our People, Our Land, Our Images” Museum staff have been working through the week to build and mount a series of new walls, on which the exhibit will be displayed. The location of the exhibit weaves through our existing exhibit space and creates a new flow allowing visitors to experience the museum in a new way.
Additionally, a series of three original films, made by the featured artists will be on display during the exhibit. A mixture of artistic and true stories, animation and live-action, these shorts explore themes of “family, oral tradition, identity, and conflict.” When visiting, get comfortable and enjoy “Silent Tears,” “How People Got Fire,” and “Shelley Niro’s Short Films.”
A limited shelf life
“Our People, Our Land, Our Images” runs at the Imperial Valley Desert Museum for the next eight weeks, just a limited time. The exhibit officially opened Friday, it will close Jan 7. It is a program of Exhibits USA, and has been made possible through a grant by the National Endowment for the Arts.
We want to especially thank the family of Michael Barker for sponsoring the exhibit to insure that it came to the valley. Michael Barker was a founder of the Imperial Valley Desert Museum and a professor at the Imperial Valley College. There are many generations of the Barker family that believe in the importance of Native American traditions and arts – we are honored that they work with us to see that this type of artwork can be brought to our community.
The museum opens from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday
Come by and explore the culture and views of indigenous people the world over. Come see how “the camera, in the hands of indigenous visionaries, becomes a tool or weapon that possesses the power to confront and deconstruct stereotypes, politics, and histories.” Come experience it and walk away changed, with eyes opened.