Artist Cannupa Hanska Luger Envisions Eras Beyond Colonialism

Just five years after earning his BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts, Cannupa Hanska Luger sold Nature, his 8-foot-tall ceramic figure, to the Denver Art Museum for $30,000. But soon after, the artist, who was born on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, began to create sculpture, performance, and video that explore Indigeneity, the environment, and eras beyond colonialism, such as his 2016 Mirror Shield Project for Standing Rock community members who opposed the construction of an oil pipeline nearby, and his ongoing Future Ancestral Technologies that embraces the role of imagination in shaping cultural narratives.

These and more are showcased in “Dripping Earth,” at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, the 46-year-old’s most expansive museum project to date. Among the more than two dozen works are Luger’s Midéegaadi, life-size regalia named after the Hidatsa word for bison, which ranged the American plains in abundance before settler colonialism rendered them nearly extinct. “For us, the buffalo are an emblem of survival, and these celebrate that—and our—resilience,” Luger says of the ensembles, which he crafts from such materials as found Afghan blankets, used bike helmets, industrial wool felt scraps, and jingle bells. “Luger’s objectives are serious, pursued with deference to the wisdom and ingenuity of his ancestors,” curators Karin Campbell and Annika Johnson add, “but also maintain good humor and a sense of whimsy.”