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Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast (Bard Graduate Center) exhibition records

 Collection
Identifier: 2023-001

Scope and Contents

Records pertaining to the development, planning, objects, research, and presentation of the exhibition and its accompanying catalogue. Academic materials related to the seminar, “The Social Lives of Things,” are also included. See each series for details of the contents.

Series I: Catalogue - Materials related to the contents and production of the exhibition catalogue. Includes author contracts, preliminary drafts, the final publication, and photography and image reproduction files.

Series II : Objects - Materials related to photography, installation, conservation, and research on loan objects. Includes object photography during the exhibition opening, conservation analysis questions, preliminary object descriptions and references, and general research.

Series III: Exhibition Planning - Materials related to the planning of the exhibition. Includes preliminary design plans, expense reports, exhibition proposals, public programs materials, and meeting notes.

Series IV: Interpretation - This series contains interpretative material created for the exhibition. Includes handouts, signage, and wall labels.

Series V: Loans - Materials primarily related to loan objects. Includes installation photography, and loan requests.

Series VI: Press - Press, publicity, and promotional materials. Includes press releases, reviews, exhibition photography, lists on opening invitations and press releases.

Series VII: Academic Course - This series contains materials related to the course “The Social Lives of Things: The Anthropology of Art and Material Culture.” Includes the course syllabus and materials for the development of the course Wiki.

Series VIII: Artist Interviews - This series contains materials related to interviews with First Nation artists that supplemented research on objects and practices highlighted in the exhibition. Includes edited audio and video clips, interview photography, release forms, and timecodes.

Series IX: Research - Research on the subjects explored in the exhibition. Includes scans of books from the American Museum of Natural History’s collection and one guide for accessing their databases.

Dates

  • 2007 - 2011

Access Restrictions

Some materials may be restricted, please contact archives staff for details

Use Restrictions

Collection use is subject to all copyright laws.

Biographical / Historical

Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast (January 26 – April 17, 2011) was curated by Aaron Glass in collaboration with students in the seminar, “The Social Lives of Things: The Anthropology of Art and Material Culture.” Objects of Exchange was the first Focus Project, a series of small-scale academically rigorous exhibitions and publications that are developed and executed by Bard Graduate Center faculty and postdoctoral fellows in collaboration with students in the school’s MA and PhD programs.

Drawing on the collection of the American Museum of Natural History, the exhibition explored the artistic traces of dynamic Indigenous activities in objects that were altered and repurposed to meet the challenges of the time, suggesting that we view its objects as witnesses to an Indigenous modernity.

Extent

0.4 Linear Feet (1 manuscript box)

5.38 Gigabytes

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Records of the 2011 Bard Graduate Center exhibition Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast, curated by Aaron Glass in collaboration with students in the Fall 2009 seminar, “The Social Lives of Things: The Anthropology of Art and Material Culture.” Records document the development, planning, loan objects, research, and accompanying catalogue of the exhibition.

Arrangement

This collection has been arranged into 9 series. Within each series, original order has largely been maintained, except instances where loose files were consolidated and interfiled.

Series I: Catalogue

Series II: Objects

Series III: Exhibition Planning

Series IV: Interpretation

Series V: Loans

Series VI: Press

Series VII: Academic Course

Series VIII: Artist Interviews

Series IX: Research

Provenance

Materials were contributed by Aaron Glass. Others were consolidated from Bard Graduate Center’s Exhibitions department.

Related Materials: Images and Interactive Tag Cloud

Digital exhibition installation views and catalogue illustrations can be accessed from Bard Graduate Center via Artstor. Please contact archives staff for details.

Throughout the gallery, a selection of 15 conceptual themes were “tagged” on the objects’ descriptive labels. On a touch screen, visitors could click on either an object’s icon or a conceptual tag in order to reconfigure the exhibition according to the various thematic relations between particular objects. To view a digital copy of the interactive tag cloud, please contact archive staff.

Title
Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast (Bard Graduate Center) exhibition records
Author
Vic Panata
Date
2023
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Bard Graduate Center, New York, NY Repository

Contact:
38 West 86th St.
New York NY 10024