Native American Galleries
Indianapolis, IN, USA
The Eiteljorg Museum launched an ambitious exhibition planning and design project in 2020 to reimagine the museum’s permanent Native North American gallery. Origin Studios won the bid to work alongside their dynamic and engaged in-house curatorial, education, and collection teams to turn the gallery into an energizing space focused on art that tells stories. The new gallery presents the rich, complex and vibrant artwork of Native North American Peoples.
As a design/build project, Origin Studios and its partner Kubik Maltbie, along with Click Netherfield and Richard Lewis Media Group (RLMG), and Indigenous Advisor Jeff Thomas, worked in collaboration with museum staff to deliver interpretation support, content management, storyline support, gallery media creation, exhibition and graphic design, fabrication and installation.
The gallery spaces have been thoughtfully designed to integrate Native American art from the Eiteljorg permanent collection that ranges from historical to customary to contemporary. This integration is a key aspect of the project and demonstrates continuous Native American cultural and artistic traditions. With a very specific decolonized approach, the objects are displayed in both unique environments and in critical-mass for better understanding of cross-cultural artistic sharing. Purpose-built case work, providing Category A museum best practice standards, allows for frequent rotation of objects and flexibility of display to tell the abundance of stories these artworks offer. Multi-perspective interpretation, from various voices, has been sympathetically woven throughout the design along with immersive environments that will encourage curiosity and participation through accessible interactive experiences. Visitors will come away understanding that Native peoples are still here, Native peoples are diverse, Native art and artistic practice are connected throughout time.
Eiteljorg Museum Website
Details
Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Opened June 25, 2022
Exhibit Space: 16,000 sq ft
Services
Exhibition, Graphic and Interactive Design
Content Management, Interpretation and Storyline support
Fabrication and Installation oversight