Shapeshifting Transformations in Native American Art Karen Kramer Russell, Janet Catherine Berlo, Bruce Bernstein, Joseph D. Horse Capture, Jessica L. Horton, Jessica L. Horton, Paul Chaat Smith, Kathleen E. Ash-Millby, Karah English, Aldona Jonaitis

Public perception of Native American art and culture has often been derived from misunderstandings and misinterpretations, and from images promulgated by popular culture. Typically, Native Americans are grouped as a whole and their art and culture considered part of the past rather than widely present. Shapeshifting challenges these assumptions by focusing on the objects as art rather than cultural or anthropological artefacts and on the multivalent creativity of Native American artists. The approach highlights the inventive contemporaneity that existed in all periods and continues today.

More than 75 works in a wide range of media and scale are organized into four thematic groups: changing - expanding the imagination; knowing - expressing worldview; locating - exploring identity and place; and voicing - engaging the individual. The result is a paradigm shift in understanding Native American art. This beautiful book demonstrates the depth of Native American visual expression while incorporating essays by scholars of Native American art history, cultural history, and anthropology. Its unique perspective makes this publication an essential resource for scholars and general readers.

Karen Kramer Russell is Curator of Native American Art and Culture at the Peabody Essex Museum and President of the Native American Art Studies Association.

"This intriguing volume provides not only a record of a groundbreaking Peabody Essex Museum exhibition, but also a glimpse into an all-too-unknown world of American art. . . . This volume truly is a celebration of Native American art across the centuries."--A./i>--Choice "A. Wirkkala "

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