Indigenous Beauty Celebrated at the Carlos

A major exhibition of Native American artwork, Indigenous Beauty: Masterworks of American Indian Art from the Diker Collection, is now on view at the Michael C. Carlos Museum.

The exhibit debuted at the Carlos Museum following showings in Seattle and Fort Worth, and will be on view through January 3, 2016. It is described as providing rare access to many exquisite works from one of the most comprehensive and diverse collections of privately owned Native American art. Some of the objects have never been seen before in public.

Not confined to one or even a few regions, the exhibition of 118 masterworks presents objects drawn from a variety of cultures of North American indigenous peoples.

“When this exhibition was offered, we jumped at the chance to showcase so much more than we could on our own,” says Rebecca Stone, Emory’s faculty curator of Art of the Americas, who as site curator is adapting the traveling exhibition to the venue here.

“The high quality and the great diversity of the Diker collection make this a perfect show for Emory, as a great introduction to the artistry of indigenous people from all regions: the Arctic, Northwest Coast, California/Great Basin, the Southwest, the Plains, and the Eastern Woodlands,” she explains.

Housed on the third floor of the Carlos, the exhibit is filled with the bright colors, intricate details, and strong silhouettes of painted hides, beadwork, plant-fiber baskets, wooden bowls and masks, and other items.

“There are shaman’s amulets and headdresses, an eight-foot-wide cloth painted with the Battle of Little Big Horn, and two contemporary glass pieces, to mention just a few of the treasures that will be on view,” Stone says.

Also included will be sculpture and sculptural objects, ancient ivories, masks, regalia, pottery and more.