Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Christina F. Kreps
Second Advisor
Dean J. Saitta
Third Advisor
Kelly Fayard
Fourth Advisor
Annabeth Headrick
Keywords
Critical museology, Decolonization, Indigenous aesthetics, Museum anthropology, Visual sovereignty
Abstract
The nature of this research is to explore the idea of visual sovereignty within contemporary Native American art, and how this concept engages with practices of decolonization. Through conducting semi-structured interviews with five artists who selfidentify as Native American, I explore how the artists engage with this concept, what visual narratives their artwork presents, and how their works function as acts of decolonization. I connect their narratives to a broader conversation of critical museology and museum anthropology within museum spaces including how to reconsider the art/artifact divide, how to frame Indigenous arts reception through Indigenous aesthetics, and how their narratives add multiplicity to the concept of sovereignty. This research utilizes critical ethnography and narrative methodology to present the data, which is interpreted through the frameworks of visual sovereignty, Tribal Critical Race Theory, and both relational and Indigenous aesthetics.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Recommended Citation
Hughes, Laura A., "Framing Representation: An Ethnographic Exploration of Visual Sovereignty and Contemporary Native American Art" (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1782.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1782
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
Rights holder
Laura A. Hughes
File size
183 p.
Copyright date
2020
File format
application/pdf
Language
en
Discipline
Museum studies, Native American studies