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[beehaiku]

 
Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂) // Architecture of return, escape (The British Museum), 2022 // pigment and acrylic on deer hide

“Galanin’s work engages themes of persistence, power, and survival in the face of settler colonialism and its legacies of institutional racism and collective amnesia. Here, the floor plan of the British Museum is painted over a blue field. Pictograms of baskets, woven hats, weapons, tools, and textiles reference the contested objects held in the museum’s collection, while a red line maps an escape route for these examples of Indigenous cultural production. In many Native cultures, hide paintings relay histories across generations and objects embody lineages; in referencing both, Galanin is proposing a getaway plan for his ancestors.” - Seattle Art Museum (https://art.seattleartmuseum.org/objects/50798/architecture-of-return-escape-the-british-museum)

see the artist talk about the piece here:
https://www.craftinamerica.org/short/nicholas-galanin-on-architecture-of-return-escape/