Indigenous Histories

Centuries of art celebrating a global panorama of Indigenous cultures

Continuing the work of the acclaimed Afro-Atlantic Histories, this publication from the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) compiles the collective curatorship and research carried out by artists and scholars from various territories and Indigenous groups in Australia, North America, South America and Scandinavia. For the traveling exhibition, MASP, in collaboration with Kode Bergen Art Museum, invited guest curators from Indigenous nations including Inuit, Maori and Sámi. With over 150 artists included, the featured artworks range from the historical to the contemporary--from 17th-century colonial religious paintings to modern film and video installations--in order to trace the impact of European colonization on Indigenous visual culture. Despite its scope, the aim of Indigenous Histories is not to fully represent the vast and complex histories of each region, but rather to provide a cross section, fragment or sample of these histories in a concise but relevant selection in order to create juxtapositions of these groups on a global scale. Incorporating traditional patterns, this beautifully designed book is divided into eight thematic sections: seven regional and one covering contemporary Indigenous activism. It features over 300 illustrations with narratives contextualized by the guest curators as well as museum directors from institutions around the world.
Artists include: Abraham González Pacheco, Antonio Paucar, Britta Marakatt-Labba, Cristóbal Lozano, Iver Jåks, Frida Kahlo, Joar Nango, Katarina Spik Skum, Lena Stenberg, María Izquierdo, Maria Karlsen, Minerva Cuevas, Outi Pieski, Raisa Porsanger, Rufino Tamayo, Saturnino Herrán, Venuca Evanán.