St. John’s University’s Master of Arts in Museum Administration Program released its student-curated virtual exhibit on Feb. 18. The exhibit is titled “Etching and Erasure: The Colonialist Photography of Edward S. Curtis (1907-1930).” The exhibit explores Curtis and his controversial photography of the Indigenous peoples of North America.
Best known for his series, “The North American Indian (1908-1930),” Curtis captured over 2,200 images and descriptions of Indigenous peoples, their lives and important objects to their cultures. The exhibit discusses how Curtis essentially created a false narrative by staging photographs and observing them through an imperialist lens.
The exhibit strives to showcase the art but actively educates audiences on the damaging beliefs and actions behind them.
“The labels tell the story, and it’s such a hot topic today, trying to separate the art from the artist, especially when the artist has done something so fundamentally wrong,” student-curator Liberty Sova said. “I think it’s just a matter of doing research or being more aware of what the story an exhibit’s trying to tell.”
This specific exhibition highlights the material objects Curtis captured. Photographs range from objects seen in everyday life, like houses, to important cultural and spiritual items, many being shrines of spiritual figures. A majority of these items were not intended or allowed to be photographed because of their high religious and cultural importance.
Through his photographs, the curators showcased how Curtis used these groups to commercialize his work. With intensive research over a whole semester by the student curators, 24 images from 11 volumes of “The North American Indian” were included in the exhibition. Each photo has a unique presence and was carefully chosen by the curators.
When speaking about the research process Sova said, “I think we just all originally kind of chose things that we thought would tell the story of Curtis, how he wrote the books and his part in Indigenous People’s History.”
While Curtis’s work is objectively aesthetic, its problematic history poses issues for audiences. To combat this, the curators bring attention to the photos, while still highlighting the highly problematic issues. “Exhibits and museums like this are trying to bring attention to the fact that, yes, this is a beautiful photograph, but you need to know the story behind it, to really understand what’s going on,” Sova explained.
The exhibit creates an accessible place for St. John’s students to actively engage in museums, education and reflect on problematic art.
“Museums should be for everybody and I think that’s more of a push nowadays to make education more attainable for everyone,” Sova said. “The student curators worked diligently to make sure the exhibit was digestible for everyone.”
The virtual exhibit is available to view until April 18 in the Yeh Art Gallery, located in Sun Yet Sen on St. John’s campus.
