CU-Boulder鈥檚 Center of the American West presents Din茅 photographer Will Wilson as the twelfth speaker in the Modern Indian Identity lecture series. Willson will speak on Monday, Oct. 26, at 6:30 p.m., in Hale, room 270.
Wilson is a Din茅 photographer who spent his formative years living in the Navajo Nation. In 2007, Wilson won the Native American Fine Art Fellowship from the Eiteljorg Museum, and in 2010 was awarded a prestigious grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Wilson created The Critical Indigenous Exchange because he was impatient with the way that American culture remains enamored with photographer Edward S. Curtis鈥檚 portraits. For many people even today, Native people remain frozen in time in the Curtis photos. Wilson is resuming the documentary mission of Curtis from the standpoint of a 21st century indigenous photographer, building a contemporary vision of Native North America.
Wilson describes his work as an "aim to link history, form, and a critical dialogue about Native American representation by engaging participants in dialogue and a portrait session using the wet plate process."
"Will Wilson is an artist whose robust claim on life and whose breathtaking creativity fully overrule the myth, still holding extraordinary power in the minds of many Americans, of the 'vanishing Indian," said Patty Limerick, faculty director and chair of the board of the Center of the American West.
Join the Center of the American West for a unique Modern Indian Identity evening. The Modern Indian Identity series features contemporary Indian speakers telling their stories in ways that confirm the compatibility of tradition with innovation.
CU-Boulder鈥檚 Center of the American West works on a variety of regional issues, including water management, relationships between federal agencies and communities and economies, land planning, Native identity, recent art and literature, and the balance of power between tradition and innovation in Western life. The Center takes as its mission the creation of forums for the respectful exchange of ideas in pursuit of solutions to the region鈥檚 difficulties. The Center believes that an understanding of the historical origins of the West鈥檚 problems, an emphasis on the common interests of all parties, and a dose of good humor are essential to constructive public discussion.听
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