“Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023” focuses on fresh and nuanced visions by six Native American or Alaska Native artists who express the honors and burdens that connect people to one another. The more than 50 artworks in the exhibition arise from traditions of making that honor family, community, or clan, and require broad community participation. Six artists — Joe Feddersen (Arrow Lakes/Okanagan), Lily Hope (Tlingit), Ursala Hudson (Tlingit), Erica Lord (Athabaskan/Iñupiat), Geo Neptune (Passamaquoddy) and Maggie Thompson (Fond du Lac Ojibwe) — analyze the present moment by evoking historical practices and potential futures. Their works are often culturally specific, yet they communicate across cultural boundaries.
This exhibit — running from Friday, May 26, to Sunday, March 31, 2024, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum — is the tenth installment of the Renwick Invitational series. Established in 2000, it showcases mid-career and emerging makers deserving of wider national recognition.