![]() ![]() The experience of collaborating with this diverse team of indigenous creatives was definitely the best takeaway from this competition.Where did Hohokam culture come from? To the first scientists who asked this question, the Hohokam seemed to appear in Arizona quite suddenly with the ability to build sophisticated irrigation system to water their crops. ![]() Our team were finalists for the competition, but did not receive an award in the end. To honor the engineering innovation brought by our territorial ancestors, we are using nature's gifts (solar power) to illuminate the exhibit at night. Canal statistics (canal length, height, volume, etc.) will also be incorporated on the panels. The canal map, cut in metal, will be overlaid with a city of Phoenix street system, ensuring visitors understand the scale and breadth of engineering here. Fulwilder has shared symbols of water and the Hohokam male figures associated with water. The laser cut metal panels, are inspired by one of our team members, a local SRPMIC metal sculpture artist, Jeff Fulwilder. It is also a backdrop for two local Indigenous artists, Natalie Diaz (GRIC, poet, linguist) and Alex Soto’s hip-hop group Shining Soul (SRPMIC) to present performances related to water. Our installation is a space for interaction, a place where visitors can sit/study/rest/gather or learn. Our aim is to celebrate the living culture and living stories of this region. We engaged three local Indigenous artists: a sculptor, a poet, and a hip hop artist. Our installation communicates the history of water and its relationship to life and the vitality of this region, while simultaneously acknowledging the contemporary presence of the Hohokam in the ancestors who now study, work, and live here. Our tribal affiliations are as different as our artistic mediums, yet our shared practices of honoring and respecting these lands and waters, as well as our passions for the communities we live in and the art we make, have built us into a strong team, the perfect crucible for creativity, as well as a family of indigenous thinkers we can lean on beyond this project. Our team consists of local tribal members and artists from other Nations, which creates a strong cross-cultural constellation. Now, together, as a collective of voices and indigenous lenses, we have found a way to recognize and honor the past, present, and future of our large community. ![]() As artists and instructors, we individually engage in work and projects with respect toward the history of land, water, and peoples of this area. Our team is a gathering of ASU instructors, students, local tribal artists and community members. This installation will be a catalyst for exchange, as it is shaped to invite conversations and performances to bring us into a collective future, as Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous people. Arizona State University is situated on the homelands and waterways of the Hohokam, Akimel O’odham, and Pee Posh. This piece celebrates the history of water in our region, including the ways water has shaped our relationships to one another and continues to do so today. Water Public Art Challenge at Phoenix Art Museum Nov 7 The River Carries Our Stories | Indigenous Artists + Architects ![]()
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