Sep

Vantage Point: Behind the scenes

Later this month, the exhibition “Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection” will open at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The exhibition highlights the museum’s young but rich collection of contemporary Native American art. “Vantage Point” features significant works by 25 established and emerging artists from across the United States and Canada and from Colombia, in media ranging from paintings, drawings, photography and sculpture to video projection and mixed-media installation. These provocative, insightful and moving works explore memory, history, the significance of place for Native communities and the continuing relevance of cultural traditions. The exhibition comes on the heels of the critically acclaimed “Brian Jungen: Strange Comfort.” It will remain on view through Aug. 7, 2011.

This video offers a behind-the-scenes look at how one large painting, “Brooklyn” (2004) by Mario Martinez (Pascua Yaqui), is being prepared for exhibit with the help of staff from the Air and Space Museum the Museum Conservation Institute and several departments of the American Indian Museum. “Vantage Point” will be on view from September 25 through August 7, 2011.