Indigenous Performance Art in the North America.
Luna is best known for his 1985-7 performance of “Artifact Piece,” during which he laid his own near-naked body in a display case at the Museum of Man in San Diego. In the case, he labeled scars and personal belongings much as the curator had labeled archaeological objects displayed in the museum. As a living, human artifact, he challenged exhibition practices that often relegate Native American culture to natural history museums, as if all that is left are objects from an extinct people, rather than showcasing contemporary art from a culture very much alive. His piece famously called attention to the way the largely white art world and historical narrative excludes, ignores, and re-imagines Native culture.
Artists and Performance Art Groups
- UNRESEARCHED
- Dakota Camacho’
- Tina Girouard
- Greg A. Hill
- Terrance James Houle
- Colette Jacques
- Adrian Kahgee
- Suzanne Kite
- Cheryl L’Hirondelle
- Cannupa Hanska Luger
- Aku Matu
- Laura Ortman
- Sheri Osden Nault
- Archer Pechawis
- Eric-Paul Riege
- Bently Spang
- Ariel Smith
- Native Art Department International
Literature and Information
- Clackamas Chinock Performance Art: Verse Form Interpretations
- Nancy J. Blomberg (ed.), Action and Agency: Advancing the Dialogue on Native Performance Art, Denver, CO: Denver Art Museum, 2010, 191 pp. Proceedings of symposium held 4-5 Apr 2008 at the Denver Art Museum’s second Biennial of the Americas. Presents essays by and on Native Americans’ performance art, emphasizing tribal diverences and associations. Essays by Rebecca Belmore (Anishinaabe-Canadian), Marcia Crosby (Tsimpshian/Haida), Lara M. Evans (Cherokee), Floyd Favel (Poundmaker Cree), Greg A. Hill (Kanyen’Kehaka Mohawk), James Luna (Luiseño/Diegueno), Tina Mjkowski (Oklahoma Kiowa), Polly Nordstrand (Hopi), and Tavia Nyong’o (Kenyan American), with Nancy J. Blomberg. (English)
