re:imagining collections

re:imagining collections January 24–April 23, 2023. Aidekman Arts Center / Medford & SMFA at Tufts / Boston.

For re:imagining collections, five artists—Ali Cherri, Nicole Cherubini, Lily Cox-Richard, NIC Kay, and SANGREE—were invited to reconsider and readdress the Tufts University collection of relatively under-studied antiquities from the Americas and the Mediterranean: some 200 objects that date from the fifth century BCE to the seventh century CE, including early Greco-Roman ceramics and stone carvings, and a trove of pre-Columbian vessels, jewelry, and textiles. Each artist has developed new installations and performances based on or inspired by the collection, which bring these earlier works into dialogue with twenty-first-century concerns around the artists’ own histories and narratives.

re:imagining collections explores and exposes the museological frameworks and histories of the antiquities collection as we begin to assess the ethical and moral implications of collecting practices. As a teaching institution, Tufts University Art Galleries (TUAG) are committed to critical inquiry, which begins here, within our very organization. The project is designed as an open classroom, welcoming students and diverse publics at every level. The presentation will serve as a space for public discussion around provenance, ownership of cultural heritage, the impact of the 1970 UNESCO convention on cultural property, and investigations into the history and practices of the museum field.

Co-organized by TUAG’s Director Dina Deitsch and Manager of Collections Laura McDonald, the exhibition is presented across both TUAG locations in Medford and Boston. Installations by artists Ali Cherri and Lily Cox-Richard will be at the SMFA at Tufts / Boston galleries, while the work of Nicole Cherubini, NIC Kay, and SANGREE will be at the Aidekman Arts Center / Medford spaces.

For a full listing of programs and events, visit our website.

About Tufts University Art Galleries
As the public center for visual arts at Tufts University, the Art Galleries create a dynamic learning space through a responsive program of contemporary art exhibitions, events, collecting, and scholarship, across our two locations in Medford and Boston. We are driven by our belief in the impact of art and artists on our world and grounded in the values of care, learning, dialogue, and the creative process.