Kooyumjian Gallery

Now on Exhibit:
Matika Wilbur — Project 652: Changing The Way We See Native America

Feb. 10 – April 22

Project 652: Changing The Way We See Native America is a photographic and narrative celebration of contemporary Native American life and cultures, alongside an in-depth examination of issues that Native people face, by celebrated photographer and storyteller Matika Wilbur of the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes.

In 2012, Matika Wilbur sold everything in her Seattle apartment and set out on a Kickstarter-funded pursuit to visit, engage and photograph people from what were then the 562 federally recognized Native American Tribal Nations. Over the next decade, she traveled six hundred thousand miles across fifty states — from Seminole country (now known as the Everglades) to Inuit territory (now known as the Bering Sea) — to meet, interview and photograph hundreds of Indigenous people.

The body of work Wilbur created serves to counteract the one-dimensional and archaic stereotypes of Native people in mainstream media and offers justice to the richness, diversity and lived experiences of Indian Country. The culmination of this decade-long art and storytelling endeavor, Project 562 is a peerless, sweeping and moving love letter to Indigenous Americans, containing hundreds of stunning portraits and compelling personal narratives of contemporary Native people — all photographed in clothing, poses and locations of their choosing. Their narratives touch on personal and cultural identity as well as issues of media representation, sovereignty, faith, family, the protection of sacred sites, subsistence living, traditional knowledge-keeping, land stewardship, language preservation, advocacy, education, the arts and more. A vital contribution from an incomparable artist, Project 562 inspires, educates and truly changes the way we see Native America.

Join Us — Special Reception in Late February!

Special Reception and Artist Talk with Simiya Suddith

5:30-7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 28

Sideshow Spotlight — Simiya Sudduth: The Confluence Tarot

The cards and illustrations featured in this exhibition are part of an ongoing tarot card-based illustration series titled “The Confluence Tarot.” Within this series, the artist explores the histories, cultures, systems, institutions, landscapes and diverse living beings of the Mississippi River watershed — past, present and future. The work draws heavy inspiration from the iconic Rider-Waite-Smith tarot card deck. The Confluence Tarot series, along with the artist's broader creative practice, serves as an offering to the Land, Ancestors and Beings within the spaces of the Great Mississippi River.