Where the Power Is: Indigenous Perspectives on Northwest Coast Art brings together contemporary Indigenous knowledge holders with extraordinary works of historical Northwest Coast art that transcend the category of "art" or "artifact" and embody distinct ways of knowing and being in the world. Dozens of Indigenous artists and community members visited the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia to engage with these objects and learn from the hands of their ancestors. The photographs and their commentaries speak to the connections between tangible and intangible cultural belongings; how "art" remains part of Northwest Coast peoples' ongoing relationships to their territories and governance; Indigenous experiences of reconnection, reclamation, and return; and critical and necessary conversations around the role of museums.

Author: Karen Duffek, Bill McLennan, Jordan Wilson
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Figure 1 Publishing
Published: 03/01/2022
Pages: 372
Weight: 5.9lbs
Size: 12.13h x 10.16w x 1.57d
ISBN: 9781773270517

About the Author
Duffek, Karen: - Karen Duffek is the Curator of Contemporary Visual Arts and Pacific Northwest at MOA. Committed to supporting the activation of Northwest Coast Indigenous collections inside and outside the museum, her research, exhibitions, and publications focus on the relationships between historical and contemporary art practices, museum collections, communities, and art markets.McLennan, Bill: - Bill McLennan (1948-2020) was Curator, Pacific Northwest at MOA. His pioneering research with infrared photography resulted in The Transforming Image: Painted Arts of Northwest Coast First Nations (with Karen Duffek, 2000); this book and other achievements reflect his passion for researching the history and dynamics of Northwest Coast art, and for sharing his knowledge with others.Wilson, Jordon: - Jordan Wilson is a Musqueam curator, writer, and PhD student in Anthropology at New York University. He has published on Musqueam and contemporary Indigenous art, and has co-curated two exhibitions at MOA: cəsnaʔəm, the city before the city (2015) and In a Different Light: Reflecting on Northwest Coast Art (2017).