Passages in American Art
The Portland Museum of Art | Ongoing
Indigo Arts Alliance served on the advisory committee for Passages in American Art, a fundamental reinterpretation of the PMA collection, platforming multiple voices, revealing new ways of looking at some of the museum’s most beloved works of art, and inviting community members to drive the conversation. The project examines the existing collection, and along with recent acquisitions, commissions, and select long-term loans, integrates Atlantic narratives and Indigenous perspectives to expand the story of American art.
Through the expertise and partnership of multiple thought-partners, Passages is a responsive installation honoring multiple truths, complexities, and understandings. An Advisory Committee, comprised of members from Akomawt Educational Initiative, Atlantic Black Box, Indigo Arts Alliance, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and Portland Public Schools, represent both existing and newly formed relationships with the museum.
Video “Reflections”: Community members, Indigenous thought-leaders, and artists reflect on Maine and the symbiotic relationship between water, art, and preservation.
Artist Talk
Adama Delphine Fawundu (AiR ’22): Nelson Social Justice Fund Lecture
Featured in Passages in American Art, photographer, interdisciplinary artist, AiR Alum ’22, and IAA Circle of Advisors, Adama Delphine Fawundu’s video installation Cosmic Echoes, 2023, centers around themes of indigenization and ancestral memory. Watch from the artist in conversation with Shalini Le Gall, PhD, Chief Curator, the Susan Donnell and Harry W. Konkel Curator of European Art, as they discuss the creative process of making Cosmic Echoes. Programming video courtesy of The Portland Museum of Art
Exhibition photos Courtesy of the Portland Museum of Art
The Portland Press Herald: Portland Museum of Art brings items out of storage and up to date
Passages,” [is] a major reinstallation of the museum’s permanent collection. An advisory committee shaped the project around three major themes – Maine’s role in transatlantic slavery, environmental change and the ongoing presence of Wabanaki and other Indigenous nations throughout North America. The resulting exhibit includes items that visitors will see for the first time and familiar works that will be framed in new ways…
