Cara Romero | Indigenous Futurisms

“These works come from a personal place of regenerative thoughts and active resilience,” says Romero (Chemehuevi Indian Tribe). “As we (Natives) continue to heal from past and ongoing traumas, we move from surviving to thriving. We are now in a creative space to imagine our futures while remembering all of our gifts granted by the sacrifices of those that came before us. We address themes like the futurity of precious Native life ways, our climate and Mother Earth, bringing balance and women’s leadership, and speculative fantasy with what feels like hope.”

In a photographic practice that blends documentary and commercial aesthetics, Romero creates stories that draw from intertribal knowledge to expose the fissures and fusions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and futurity.

Indigenous Futurisms includes the 2022 photograph, 3 Sisters, which refers to the Indigenous science — sometimes known as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)—that has helped tribes live sustainably and in harmony with the environment for thousands of years. “3 Sisters imagines a future in which Native women hold a sacred role in the healing and balance of our Earth,” Romero says. Each woman wears specific vernacular from their tribes, digitally remastered on their bodies, and wires are plugged in to their hearts, minds, and life-giving energies—“the things our futures depend upon for survival,” the artist states.

Opening-Day Events October 20, 2023
Artist Talk with Juleana Enright, 5 pm
Public Reception 6–8 pm

GALLERY HOURS
2123 w 21st Street  (west of Lake of the Isles, near Franklin), Minneapolis
Tuesday through Saturday, Noon to 5:00 pm

Image: Cara Romero, The Zenith, 2022

RELATED EVENTS
- In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now opens October 22 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The exhibition presents over 150 photographs of, by and for Indigenous people and includes works by Cara Romero, Tom Jones, and Frank Big Bear. Purchase tickets for the opening panel discussions on Saturday, October 21.

- The documentary “Cara Romero: Following the Light” will be available to stream nationwide for free on the PBS Video App beginning November 1, for the next three years. The Minneapolis Institute of Art will screen the video on Friday, November 9 at 6pm, 7pm, and 8pm. Event info here.