In their first major joint exhibition in Europe, Tanya Lukin Linklater and Duane Linklater bring together artworks reflecting on their experience as First Nations people from North America. They explore questions shaping both current and historical Indigenous life, including the ownership of ancestral belongings, the politics of land and trade, and the toll of erased histories. In their sculptures, installations and paintings, elemental forces, bodies and objects intersect to imagine the possibilities of reparation, healing and the building of new worlds.
The title of the exhibition Crested/mâcistan speaks of water as a source of community, responding to Galerie Rudolfinum’s position along the river Vltava. In both the Czech lands and the Americas, waters have transferred objects and knowledge between peoples – including the Czech glass beads that are sewn into the exhibition’s story. Yet, rivers and oceans have also carried colonial expansion and Indigenous dispossession. Crested/mâcistan traces such flows and circulations, to suggest new relations through listening, handling, teaching and care.
‘We are honoured that Tanya Lukin Linklater and Duane Linklater are bringing their work to Prague for this important exhibition. The project is the result of close collaboration between Galerie Rudolfinum and its partners – the Vienna Secession, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, and Portikus in Frankfurt am Main. Alongside the works from the solo shows at these leading institutions, the exhibition will feature a new site-specific collaboration created especially for Galerie Rudolfinum, as well as pieces presented in dialogue by the two artists. The exhibition marks their first major joint presentation in Europe.’
– Julia Bailey and Hana Janečková, curators
Exhibition guide can be found here. Hana Janečková’s curatorial essay, entitled Mouth of the River, can be found here.
Curators: Julia Bailey and Hana Janečková
