Aidekman Arts Center / Medford
Véxoa: We Know (Nós sabemos)
September 5–December 10, 2023
Reception & artist program: Wednesday, September 20, 6–8pm, with exhibiting artists Denilson Baniwa and Daiara Tukano, and Claudia Mattos Avolese
SMFA at Tufts / Boston
Elizabeth James-Perry: Double Arrows
September 5–November 12, 2023
Toast, tour, and workshop: Wednesday, September 13, 5–8pm, with Erin Genia, guest curator Abigail Satinsky, and Tanya Crane
Tufts University Art Galleries (TUAG) are thrilled to present Véxoa: We Know (Nós sabemos) at our Medford galleries this fall, a groundbreaking survey exhibition of Indigenous artists of Brazil today developed by curator Naine Terena (member of the Terena Indigenous people of the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso do Sul). Informed by the role of art as a tool for activism, the exhibition presents the work of 22 artists and collectives from regions throughout Brazil, featuring painting, drawing, sculpture, and video. Véxoa, which means “we know” in the Terena language, reaffirms Indigenous agency and struggle for self-determination as well as Indigenous contributions to the richness and diversity of Brazilian visual culture. In so doing, it subverts persistent boundaries between art and artifact, traditional and modern, popular and high culture, declaring a new approach to art in Brazil that can embrace the diversity of Indigenous experience today. First presented at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo in 2020, Véxoa: We Know has its only North American venue at TUAG and was made possible by the Teiger Foundation.
At the TUAG galleries in Boston at SMFA at Tufts, Elizabeth James-Perry: Double Arrows calls forth a visually evocative concept of acknowledging our shared space and human interdependencies with the natural world. James-Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag) is a lifelong traditional artist, scientist, and illustrator who engages with Northeastern Woodlands Native cultural expressions in myriad forms. For this installation, which includes James-Perry’s textured weavings and subtly detailed jewelry, she expands this interconnection to a kinship network of artists who share her concerns. These include SMFA faculty member Tanya Crane and Erin Genia (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate), an Indigenous multidisciplinary artist; as well as the artist’s brother, Jonathan James-Perry and mother, Patricia James-Perry.
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.
