Current Exhibitions
Be sure to check out these exhibitions currently on view at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
William Mathers Gallery
Whispers from the Divide
Arthur Liou’s video installation, Whispers from the Divide, seeks to encapsulate the tangible and intangible barriers between the US-Mexico border. Through a series of pilgrimages to key locations along the border, Liou records a first-person journey and offers an immersive experience that transcends mere observation. The bilingual Spanish and English exhibition will feature an interactive space where guests and community members can share their personal experiences of the US-Mexico border.
Divine Adornment: Community Stories of Belonging
Curated by fashion scholar Dr. Heather Akou, Associate Professor at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, Divine Adornment: Community Stories of Belonging uses pieces from the Museum’s collection to explore fashion from an Islamic perspective. The exhibit focuses on what fashion means to people from source communities and how they inspire contemporary makers of textiles, clothing, and jewelry. Themes of slow fashion, contemporary inspiration, making and belonging will be explored in this exhibition presented in both Arabic and English.
Hall Gallery
Through Our Eyes: A Reclamation
Through Our Eyes: A Reclamation will feature three Indigenous guest-curators, Debra Yepa-Pappan (Jemez Pueblo/Korean), Molina Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota/Northern Cheyenne), and Yatika Starr Fields (Osage/Muscogee Creek/Cherokee), as they create works of art that that reinterpret the Edward S. Curtis and Joseph K. Dixon photography collections, held at the Library of Congress and Indiana University, and sound recordings from the Archives of Traditional Music held by IU Libraries. Recognizing that the Curtis and Dixon image and sound collections were originally produced through extractive and colonialist means, this project seeks to redress colonial harm by prioritizing the guest-curators’ visions, recentering Indigenous perspectives, and uplifting source community voices.
North Lobby Gallery
Locally Based, Globally Relevant
Locally Based, Globally Relevant will be an interactive exhibition acknowledging the contributions and global impact of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities on land management practices, environmental governance, and ecological conservation and restoration internationally. Six case studies will be used to illustrate the impact of Indigenous knowledge and understanding, offering alternative ways of thinking about the relationship between nature and humanity that are locally based in community and have an impact that resonates globally.
South Lobby Gallery
Woven Through Time and Place
Woven Through Time and Place highlights the wide variety of techniques that can be used to create patterns and designs on fabrics, including woven patterns, beadworks, embroidery, dyeing, and applique. A given technique may be globally ubiquitous or tied to a certain geographic region, culture, clan, artist, culture-bearer, or family. The textiles displayed in this exhibition show various techniques and designs.
Curator's Corner
The Bold and Beautiful: Isthmus Zapotec Dress
Curator’s Corner features objects from IUMAA’s collections that come from various regions globally and are directly related to peoples from diverse cultures internationally. The first iteration of Curator’s Corner highlights objects from Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico. This Indigenous community is known for its elaborate garments known as the traje bordado with bold geometric designs, floral patterns, and prints.
Reading Room
Mapping the Midwest
The Reading Room and Archives will feature rotating selections from the Museum’s libraries and archival collections. The first exhibition will focus on maps of the Midwest. The exhibit will demonstrate and provide insight into the priorities and assumptions of mapmakers and reveal the various lenses through which they viewed the land.
Community Gallery
Kids Create: Lincoln Street Boys & Girls Club
Using skateboard decks, acrylics, and other materials Lincoln Street Boys and Girls Club members explore their ideas about identity and creativity. A graffiti demo at the Switchyard Park by Mike “Brisk” Burchfield helped kick off the project, leading campers to think about how various styles of art help show different sides of themselves. More than a dozen distinctive skateboards in a variety of styles reveal what these young artists want to share with the world.
Virgil T. DeVault Programs Room
Finding Home
Originally entitled "On the Run", Finding Home is a powerful collaborative project led by Deborah Haber, Executive Director of DEEP Arts Rochester, in partnership with students, many of whom are recent migrants and refugees to Austria. The artworks on display reflect the lived experiences of forcibly displaced individuals, each piece a testament to resilience and the strength of the human spirit.
