Indigenizing Curatorial Practice

Synopsis:

As museums across the country continue to reckon with foundational legacies of colonialism, greater emphasis has been placed on decolonization. Shedding light on the complexity, nuance, and even absurdity involved in this work, Powell will discuss shifts in her own curatorial practice and how she has approached recent and ongoing through the centering of Indigenous knowledges and practices.

Bio:

Jami Powell (she/her) is the Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Indigenous Art at the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College where she also serves as a senior lecturer in the Native American and Indigenous Studies Department. Powell is a citizen of the Osage Nation and has a PhD in anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During her tenure at the Hood Museum, Powell has curated exhibitions including Form and Relation: Contemporary Native American Ceramics, CIPX Dartmouth with Kali Spitzer and Will Wilson, Madayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Bark Painting from Yirrkala, This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, and Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light). She has published widely, with articles in Museum Anthropology, Journal of Anthropological Research, Museum Management and Curatorship, Museum Magazine, and First American Art Magazine. Powell’s co-edited volume titled Re-Envisioning American Art: Transforming Museum Practice is published by the University of Washington Press and will be released in March 2025. She is on the board of directors for the Native American Art Studies Association and serves on advisory boards for Panorama and the Terra Foundation for American Art.