Shifting Perspectives
- Beau Dick's Multi-Layered Strategy of Agency on documenta 14
Author
Date
2019
Keywords
Contemporary Art, Documenta14, Post-Colonialism, Decolonisation
ISBN/ISSN/ISMN, DOI
- ISBN/ISSN/ISMN:
- 2235-1604
Text
This article examines the participation of Kwakwaka’wakw hereditary chief, wood carver, political activist, and contemporary artist Beau Dick at documenta 14 held in 2017. On this occasion, Beau Dick produced masks for ritual use as well as for the art market. To mediate the ongoing dispute between artwork and ethnographical object, and to overcome this historically conditioned binary opposition, this text examines artistic practices stemming from a non-Western background. Kwakwaka’wakw rituals, practices, and myths shape the analysis of Beau Dick’s work and his position within the field of contemporary art. The article recuperates the complex history between First Nations people and the West as a framework for Beau Dick’s masks. Thus, it puts old-fashioned ideas about Othering that were reiterated in the press coverage of documenta 14 into perspective and advocates for a more inclusive approach.
Volume/Issue, Pages
15
Language, Format, Material, Edition
English
Activity List
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- All-Over. Magazin für Kunst und Ästhetik. . 2019 -
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