More than a dozen Native Artists from five different Northern Michigan Anishinaabe bands have been featured at a new exhibition in the Detroit Institute of Art museum.
This show will be the first time the institute has strictly focused on contemporary art coming from the native community.
Nine and Ten News’ Nick Simon talked with a Michigan-raised artist who was also a member of the advisory team on the exhibition. He asked about her work and the message it sends to the Native community.
Nick: First, if you’d like to introduce yourself...
Monica: Sure. I’m Monica Ricker-Balter. I’m Prairie Band Potawatomi and Black. I am a visual artist and a co-founder and co-director at the Center for Native Futures, based in Chicago.
Nick: How would you describe Anishinaabe contemporary art, and how does that differ from the mainstream contemporary scene?
Monica: Anishinaabe contemporary art is a thing (laugh). A lot of times, people tend to put Native American art into a certain era, or it’s only with a certain genre or something. It’s very romanticized. However, with what we’ve done with the exhibition, I think the tradition at Detroit has really just showcased that there is just so much brilliance that’s still going on and continues, where people are taking in traditional practices, but putting them in new art forms and new ways of displaying.
I, for one, love pastels, but I also have an animation major and dealt a lot with digital programs. So I do a lot of layering and combining old techniques with new and then also melding different Anishinaabe things like a decor that you would see in like applique or different things like that, bringing those kinds of designs into my own work, but presenting it in a new way. And I also have my artwork printed on metal aluminum.
Nick: You mentioned some of the motifs and symbols that you use. Could you go into some of them specifically, and what they mean to you?
Monica: Yeah, so you’ll see a lot of appliques throughout my work, but the two pieces that I have at the exhibition. One is “Dragonfly Weave”. And that was actually a commission from Microsoft. And they were looking into, you know, AI is coming out. How do people handle it? A lot of people are scared.
And the more I was thinking about it, the more I was thinking, well, you know, if we look at it more of a utilitarian type way, like look at weavings, look at the patterns and things that people used to put into baskets. And those told stories, those were messages, those were like coded messages. And if you look at any visual representation of software or programming, you’re going to see something similar, like, okay, there are these repetitions that keep happening. So that’s kind of interwoven with that. And then dragonflies symbolizing, you know, good luck, good fortune, it’s positive energy. So (the end product) is like what you put into it.
I also have “Bee Staying Alive” and that actually refers to a bee that is losing its habitat in Illinois. And that was part of another showcase that I was in over a year ago and it was the Rusty Patch Bee. So, I kind of tell the story of this bee losing its home and you’re seeing some of the flowers. dyeing off and different things, and those are drawn in pastels, but also very, very similar to what you’d see in floral applique on Ojibwe or Potawatomi patterns.
Nick: And that kind of touches on my next question. I’ve often heard art described as a conversation through history. With that as the basis of this question, you touched on a little bit of how you want people in the present to experience your work, but how do you feel about the legacy of artists that you’re building on? And how do you think they’d feel to see your work in the exhibition today?
Monica: Well, I hope they would love it. You know, ancestors know who we are. We are connected through time and space. And, you know, particularly what we try to emphasize at Center for Native Futures is the past will inform the present and help us to realize and thrive in the future that we want to see. And a lot of that is, looking back to, like, what have people done in the past? How can we advance that? And why can’t Native people also evolve their art? Everybody else gets to do it.
So I think that they would be very proud and also still, like, lovely to see that there’s old techniques that are still being crafted in new ways. And, you know, I was on the advisory team for the whole exhibition, so I’m very, very proud of the selection of artists that we ended up choosing. And it’s just incredible work all throughout.
Nick: And to follow up on that, what did it mean to you that the Museum selected an exhibition like this as one of their showcases?
Monica: Well, I think we’ve seen a lot of museums trying to actually get ahead of things and trying to say, oh, maybe we should actually update some of our exhibitions. Um, you know, they haven’t done anything with Native art in over 30 years, and that’s just unacceptable. So I’m really happy that, you know, the team, the curators, um, Dineen, she was, she’s been great, Megan, we had some really wonderful supportive staff that we’re really trying to make sure that everybody was heard and that things were accounted for and that more accurate and authentic stories were being told through these visual representations.
And there’s language all throughout. So, I don’t know of too many museums that would fully translate all of the labels and everything into Anishinaabe. So that’s also pretty dynamic.
Nick: With a 30-year gap between exhibitions, there are some art fans now that have probably not seen a presentation of Native art like this. What are they missing out on?
Monica: Well, they’re missing out on not only history, but, you know, there’s just a lot of stories that have either been silenced or erased and need to be told. And Native people, we’ve been keeping this alive, through the generations, and new stories are being created. And that is also just fantastic to see.
You know, there’s some pieces in there that even relate to today’s times. There’s a pretty powerful one where during COVID, instead of sending like PPE up, and you know, the covid tests, the government sent body bags. And this artist converted those into like beaded patterns of the stars and it’s just such a powerful symbolic piece and it does stick with you. Like, there’s still things that we’re combating constantly, and you wouldn’t think that that would be an issue today, but it very much is.
So I think that this is going to be kind of a wakeup call for those who, you know, just don’t know or haven’t been paying attention. And this will also help people just come together and find ways to connect and actually, you know, advance and, you know, make this place a better place for everybody.
Nick: A lot of our viewers may not be artists themselves, but they might be interested in getting into collecting. For collectors out there, would you like to make a case for why they should look at local artists as maybe a good place to start?
Monica: Absolutely. Part of our thing with Center for Native Futures as well, we want to make sure that artwork goes to good homes and the ones that do collect the pieces, they actually, you know, they get it. They understand what the artist is trying to say and will be very respectful.
So I think that that’s one thing that, you know, the Detroit Institute, they’re going to have a lot of pieces to look at and see and just hopefully they’ll actually accession some of those and just make sure that the public also has access so they can see and they can also get inspired and want to do more crafts, want to collaborate because there’s just really some really fabulous things.
And like Jonathan Thunder’s piece, it’s this monochromatic piece about Mishapishu, and it’s a very fun story because a lot of people don’t know about this legend of a water panther that lives in the Great Lakes. And that kind of goes more into that legend, but also in a very humorous way, because you will see a lot of humor throughout the exhibition as well, because that’s also just part of Native culture, Native background. We all think we’re funny.
Nick: Some people say that Native art is having a moment. Would you say that that’s like more of a fad that comes and goes, or is this more of a reshaping of how we view American art?
Monica: Absolutely. I believe that it’s going to be more than just a fad because we also have not had this kind of agency in a long time. And the fact that you’re seeing more Native-led art spaces also pop up, like this, is only going to help connect our artists and also just do more cross-cultural collaborations. Like, tribes have many different stories to tell, and there are people who live on reservations and then people who live in cities or suburbs.
So, there are all these stories that need to be able to come together. And the fact that museums and other galleries are actually recognizing, like, oh, this we can be part of that to help that. And I want to keep encouraging that.
Nick: You mentioned more agency. Most of the time when you go to a museum and you see Native artifacts, nobody got paid for the artwork that was done in those cases.
Is the Detroit Museum doing anything to make sure that some of those mistakes don’t happen again?
Monica: I think that this exhibition is definitely the right step in a good direction. However, their current Ancient America’s exhibition is just not up to par. I’m hoping that this does inspire more people to be like, oh, we need to actually, contribute to this and, doing more fundraising to actually get them to work with living artists, because a lot of those items were either stolen or sold, or, there’s some indiscretions that come with a lot of those objects and certain things that shouldn’t even be on display.
So I’m hoping that they’re going to be fully aligned with NAC protocol and, you know, uphold the Indian Arts and Crafts Act and make sure that they have authentic Native people that are doing the artwork and being able to work and showcase new kinds of art and just not keeping Native people in a certain time period.
Nick: Got it. Is there anything else that you’d like to add on this topic? Anything that I might have missed in my questioning? Any final thoughts?
Monica: No, I’m just really glad to see that this is getting some more press coverage and I really hope that you’re able to reach out to more artists and just to keep this going. This should be an ongoing conversation and that’s the only way that it’s going to make it not be a fad. So it’s like actually recognizing that, yeah, these people are out here and they have wonderful stories to tell and all are welcome.
Nick: Well, again, thank you very much for finding the time. I really appreciate it.
Monica: Thank you so much, Nicholas. Take care.
