From the Archive: Kent Monkman

We’re starting the Winter 2022 series virtually with a selection of favorite presentations from the archives. This Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series event originally took place on April 2, 2015.

Through a variety of mediums, including painting, film/​video, performance, and installation, Kent Monkman explores themes of colonization, sexuality, loss, and resilience — the complexities of historic and contemporary Native American experience. His alter-ego, Miss Chief, appears in his work as an agent provocateur and trickster who upends received notions of history and indigenous people. Monkman has created memorable site specific performances at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, The Royal Ontario Museum, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Compton Verney, and most recently at the Denver Art Museum. His award-winning short film and video works have been screened at various national and international festivals, including the 2007 and 2008 Berlinale, and the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. Monkman has been awarded the Egale Leadership Award, the Indspire Award and the Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Award.

Original event co-presented by University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), with support from Institute for the Humanities, and the Michigan Indian Employment & Training Services. Presenting Partners: Detroit Public Television and PBS Books. Media Partner: Michigan Radio.