Shaped by the Loom “A Map is Not the Territory”: Documenting the Navajo Nation through Visual Storytelling

“For this event, Diné photographer and curator Rapheal Begay and Bard Graduate Center/American Museum of Natural History Postdoctoral Fellow Hadley Jensen will discuss their work on land-based and relational practices of Navajo weaving.”

Jensen curated the upcoming BGC/AMNH digital exhibition, Shaped by the Loom, launching online in Spring 2022, and opening at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Summer 2023. With support from the NYU Gallatin WetLab, Begay and Jensen (co-curators of MIAC’s forthcoming exhibit) worked on a collaborative field documentation project that examines relationships between people and place. Through 360-degree panoramic images, still photographs, and audio recordings, they aim to provide an immersive and sensory experience of the animate landscapes and geographic dynamics of the Navajo Nation. This content will be featured alongside MIAC’s 2023 exhibit of Navajo textiles in an effort to reimagine and rechart Diné space, particularly within the context of institutional histories and collecting practices. In building upon the exhibition’s themes and narratives, this project foregrounds reciprocity efforts, making this documentation accessible and relevant to descendent communities whose past, present, and future homelands we inhabit.

*This is a virtual event*  Please register below:

Here is the program’s Zoom registration link, and here is the MIAC Facebook event page. 

https://www.indianartsandculture.org/calendar&eventID=4862