Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation centers Anishinaabe contemporary artists from the Great Lakes region, highlighting their agency and cultural continuity and that of their communities. This will be the Detroit Institute of Arts’ (DIA) first significant on-site exhibition of Native American art in thirty years, reflecting the communities of the land on which it stands. 

Norval Morrisseau, Punk Rockers Nancy and Andy, 1989. Oil on canvas. Collection the Norval Morrisseau Estate. Courtesy the Norval Morrisseau Estate, LTD. © The Norval Morrisseau Estate LTD. Photo: Alina Ilyasova

This exhibition is the outcome of an open call guided by an advisory council of artists from the Chippewa (Ojibwe), Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes. Works by over sixty artists will be included in the exhibition, many showcasing innovative approaches to both long-established and contemporary artistic practices through technique, materials, and subject matter. 

A diverse range of more than ninety works—including basketry, beadwork, birchbark artistry, clothing, film, graphic design, jewelry, painting, pottery, sculpture, and woodwork—will be presented. The exhibition is grouped into themed sections: Making Continues, Continuing Forms, Continuing to See in New Ways, Continuing for Generations, Continue to Remember, Style Continues, Nature Continues, Water Continues, and The Story Continues. The exhibition also spans generations, including multimedia artists George Morrison (Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), Jim Denomie (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), and Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa); sculptors Mary Edmonia Lewis (Mississauga Ojibwe) and Jason Quigno (Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe); and fiber and black ash artist Kelly Church (Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Band of Pottawatomi; Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians [Descent]). The accompanying catalogue, edited by De Quintal, will feature contributions by Matthew L. M. Fletcher, Christopher T. Green, Kendra Greendeer, and Shawnya Harris.

Moira (Miri) Villiard, The Waters of Tomorrow, 2019. Acrylic and water-soluble oil on canvas. Courtesy the artist

Dr. Denene De Quintal is Assistant Curator for Native American Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Her curatorial projects for DIA include the traveling exhibition Vitality and Continuity: Art in the Experiences of Anishinaabe, Inuit, and Pueblo Women (2023–24), planning for the reinstallation of the Native American galleries, and facilitation of the ongoing Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). She formed the Native American Advisory Council and an interdepartmental task force for developing policies and procedures for the Native American art collection at DIA. In her previous role as Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow in American Indian Art at the Denver Art Museum, Dr. De Quintal co-curated Eyes On: Julie Buffalohead (2018) and researched the impact of national policy and museum practices on Native American artists and tribes. She received her PhD (2012) and MA (2001) in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Chicago and her BA (1998) from Cornell University.

Diya Vij, Creative Time