Do You Want
to Bead Together?
form & concept | August 2023
This group exhibition delves into the contemporary and transformative essence of beadwork, celebrating five Indigenous artists' innovative aesthetics and the alluring materiality of beads themselves.
“The materials and techniques employed in beadwork have deep and adaptive roots that wind through history and activate contemporary cultural dialogues,” says curator Tiana Japp, whose work is featured in the show alongside four other Indigenous women beadworkers. “Beyond their artistic value, beads serve as a nexus for knowledge sharing and acts of resistance within Indigenous community.”
Press
Carmen Selam’s beaded bags from Do You Want to Bed Together? originally appeared in her multidisciplinary installation for Beyond Mastery, the Institute of American Indian Arts MFASA thesis exhibition. “She offers ‘new mourning protocols,’ emerging from lived experience,” writes Joelle E. Mendoza in Hyperallergic.
My contributions: Curatorial oversight of Tiana Japp
Artwork: Tiana Japp (header image), Carmen Selam, Bazille Owen-Reese, Iah Q (featured image), Amanda Whitlow
Photography: Marylene Mey, Byron Flesher