Ithaca, NY

This exhibition brings together the work of twenty artists responding to environmental challenges occurring in their countries and communities. Presented in conjunction with an international conference, Rhythms of the Land: Indigenous Knowledge, Science, and Thriving Together in a Changing Climate, to be held at Cornell October 11–13, this exhibition features artists from regions experiencing some of the most acute consequences of resource extraction and climate variation.

Included are works by Raymond Boisjoly (Haida/Canadian); Tiffany Chung (Vietnamese/American); Uuriintuya Dagvasambuu (Mongolian); Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂); Maureen Gruben (Inuvialuk); Mona Hatoum (Palestinian/British); Tenzin Norbu Gurung (Tibetan/Nepali); Dilyara Kaipova (Uzbek); Sonya Kelliher-Combs (Iñupiaq/Athabascan); Frederick McDonald (Moose Lakes Athabasca First Nation); Meryl McMaster (nêhiyaw/Siksika/Canadian); Mulyana (Indonesian); Yinarupa Nangala (Pintupi/Indigenous Australian); Paulo Nazareth (Brazilian); Jolene Rickard in collaboration with Anita Ferguson, Anita Greene, and Janice Smith (Ska:rù:rę'/Tuscarora); Abel Rodríguez (Amazonas/Colombian); Anatjari Tjakamarra (Pintupi/Indigenous Australian); Old Walter Tjampitjinpa (Pintupi/Indigenous Australian); and Yee I-Lann (Malaysian).

Emphasizing the effects of colonialism and neocolonialism, the exhibition presents works of art that call attention to the consequences of environmental damage on the food production, security, cultural independence, and general well-being of communities that have historically contributed the least to the current crisis. It explores specific, local impacts of geopolitical forces and extractive industries, and Indigenous concepts of environmental stewardship. The compelling ways in which artists confront these crucial topics, simultaneously with the presentation of critical research at a major conference, represents a means for engaging contemporary thinking about this most universally human of issues.