The largest exhibition of contemporary Native North American art ever staged in Britain, 'Hold to This Earth', has arrived at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Featuring works from more than 35 tribal nations, the show offers a powerful counterpoint to the colonial narratives that have long dominated the continent's history.
A Timely Exhibition
Curated by Sarah Coulson, the exhibition draws from Santa Fe's Tia Collection and arrives as the United States prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. 'The work is incredibly timely,' Coulson explains. 'These artists are dealing with pertinent issues now.'
Art as Activism
Many artists confront contemporary concerns head-on. Yatika Starr Fields's sculptures incorporate tents salvaged from the encampment of protesters who opposed the Dakota Access Pipeline, which threatened the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux. Diego Romero's ceramic vessel blends ancient Greek pottery aesthetics with comic book-style characters drawn from a sci-fi film about Mayans in space.
Jeffrey Gibson, a standout figure, fuses Indigenous dance, music, and dress with club culture and a DayGlo palette. The exhibition's title comes from his book 'An Indigenous Present', and a unifying theme is the artists' profound connection to the natural world.
Connection to the Earth
Rose B Simpson's giant Aztec mother goddess, 'Tonantzin', grasps raw clay, symbolising her physical origin. Raven Halfmoon's dual-toned figure references the sun and moon, drawing on the Caddo origin story of emergence from an underground realm. 'Artists address how our extractive profiteering relationship with the Earth could be reassessed,' says Coulson. 'How Indigenous people live with it in parity.'
Dakota Mace's commission transcends geography, combining oak galls, clay, and sheep wool from Yorkshire with materials from her Wisconsin home to create cyanotypes—a four-metre abstract work. Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds's circle of place signs names the eight tribes for whom Bear's Tipi is sacred, a site now desecrated by recreational vehicles. His temporary signs remind us of land rights and our shared custodianship of the planet.
Notable Works
Jeffrey Gibson, 'To My Nation' (2017): Blending pop culture with Cherokee and Choctaw heritage, intricate beadwork incorporates Curtis Mayfield's lyrics, 'keep on keeping on'.
Zoë Urness, 'No More Stolen Sisters' (2019): Black-and-white photography highlights activists raising awareness of violence against Indigenous women, which occurs at rates six to ten times higher than for non-Indigenous women.
Nicholas Galanin, 'Ancestral Map of Return' (2023): A celestial map on deer hide, part of a series plotting routes for the return of ancestors' remains held by non-Indigenous museums.
Rose B Simpson, 'Tonantzin' (2021): The mother goddess underscores matrilineal knowledge, grasping clay as a symbol of birth and ceramic craft.
'Hold to This Earth: Works By Contemporary Indigenous North American Artists from Tia Collection' runs at Yorkshire Sculpture Park from 13 June to 18 April.
