Nov 8, 2018 At the Museum Exhibitions At Crystal Bridges, we’re committed to exploring the unfolding story of America. Through the 2014 State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now exhibition, the museum introduced 102 artists who live and work in communities all over the US. We’re continuing that effort in 2018 through new installations and the current exhibition Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices 1950s to Today, organized by Crystal Bridges. #ArtistatCB provides a window into the lives and studios of artists, who help us connect to the issues of our time in thought-provoking and inspiring ways. Tanya Lukin Linklater Resides in: Canada Website: www.tanyalukinlinklater.com Tanya Lukin Linklater is an artist whose practice incorporates elements of choreography, dance, performance, video art, film, and writing. She explores the complexity of Indigenous life today through themes such as personal memory, historical memory, Indigenous women’s experiences, and ways of passing on knowledge. Untitled (For Sonya Kelliher-Combs) (2018) is a new artwork using video and dance that was created especially for the Art for a New Understanding exhibition. The work comes in direct response to Orange Curl (2012), a sculpture by Sonya Kelliher-Combs. Lukin Linklater was compelled by Kelliher-Combs’s process and exploration of time, memory, and community, as well as the two artists’ shared histories of Alaska. Lukin Linklater originates from two small Native villages in the Kodiak archipelago of southwestern Alaska, Native Village of Afognak and Native Village of Port Lions; Kelliher-Combs, meanwhile, was raised in the northwest Alaskan community of Nome. Lukin Linklater developed Untitled (For Sonya Kelliher-Combs) through direct conversation with Kelliher-Combs but also through Lukin Linklater’s continuing research and investigations of traditional forms of Alaska Native dance, language and art history, which pose questions surrounding the complexities of cultural revitalization. Lukin Linklater’s work involves two low platforms, about four by six feet placed at different angles near Orange Curl, one as a place to project her new video, and both for interaction with the dancers. As a second part of the work, Lukin Linklater and two dancers, Ceinwen Gobert and Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, have been in residence at Crystal Bridges choreographing a new dance. The culminating performances will take place in view of visitors to the exhibition on and around the two platforms and Orange Curl. Collaboration and shared authorship are key elements of the piece: Lukin Linklater provides the structure for the work, but the process of creation is generative with Lukin Linklater and the two dancers. The piece engages with a more expansive form of time. Focusing awareness on temporality in her performances, including the one for Crystal Bridges, Lukin Linklater asks people to be aware of their breath, to slow down and step away from the brisk pace of the information age. There are several events with Lukin Linklater at the museum over the next few days! Don’t miss these exciting opportunities to hear from the artist and witness the culminating performance: Performance Lab » Translating Native Language Friday, November 9, 7 to 8:30 pm Join us for a night of performance art, spoken word, and video exploring Indigenous languages and culture. Joining the artist is Tulsa Artist Fellow Elisa Harkins, who is emerging in popularity in the local contemporary Indigenous scene, and also the Matriarch group from Tulsa presenting on the social welfare of Native women. FREE, register here. Art Night Out Saturday, November 10, 6:30 to 10 pm All ages are invited to Art Night Out! Explore Indigenous arts today from the powerful perspective of Art for a New Understanding. Linklater’s performance will be held in the exhibition gallery at 7 pm and 8:30 pm. $10 ($8/members), FREE to ages 18 and under, register here. Gallery Performances Saturday, November 10, 3 and 5 pm Sunday, November 11, 3 and 5 pm Experience the completed choreography work in the Art for a New Understanding gallery on Saturday and Sunday at 3 and 5 pm. In Untitled (for Sonya Kelliher-Combs), Part 2, the dancers will perform a dance in direct response to Kelliher-Combs’s Orange Curl, which will be on display near the performance. These performances are FREE. “Orange Curl” (2012) by Sonya Kelliher-Combs
