Spirit in the Land
“Our desire to live in harmony with nature is ultimately what will determine our future." - Museum Director Trevor Schoonmaker
The Warriors Way: Restructuring the Self (2021) by Charmaine WatkissNasher Museum of Art at Duke University
18-Year Track Record
Since opening in 2005, the Nasher Museum has been dedicated to building agroundbreaking collection of contemporary art centered on diversity and inclusion.
Spirit in the Land is a continuation of the museum’s emphasis on artists historically under-represented, overlooked or excluded from art institutions, with a particular focus on artists of African descent.
Thirty artists, through their artwork, show how our individual and collective identities are shaped by the natural world.
Catching Shadow (2021) by Tamika GalanisNasher Museum of Art at Duke University
The artists approach ecological awareness through a close attention to the communities most negatively affected by climate change,exemplifying how essential both biodiversity and cultural diversity are to our survival.
Floridawater II (2019) by Allison Janae HamiltonNasher Museum of Art at Duke University
In the artist’sown words: My experience of community, family, self, and culture are all inextricably linked to the natural environment. —Allison Janae Hamilton
These artists explore the ways in which our inner spaces mirror our outer ones in works that both celebrate the profound beauty of our world and mourn its loss, and with it,vanishing histories of people and place.
Botanical illustration #3 (the Herbmaster, James Luna) (2020) by Renée StoutNasher Museum of Art at Duke University
As the battles against climate change are often most critical for marginalized communities — environmental justice is social and racial justice.
The exhibition and accompanying exhibition catalogue center the voices of artists who approach ecological awareness through a close attention to the communities most negatively affected.
Acting as environmental stewards, the artists reclaim and revitalize our understanding of nature as a repository of cultural memory, a place of sanctuary, a site of resistance,and a source of spiritual nourishment and healing.
Through their work in “Spirit in the Land,” 30 artists show us how rooted in the earth our most cherished cultural traditions are, how our relationship to land and water shapes us as individuals and communities.
Still from “Portrait, number 1 man (day clean ta sun down),” (2019) by Sheldon ScottNasher Museum of Art at Duke University
“Spirit in the Land”(Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 2023), the catalogue which accompanies the art exhibition of the same name, examines today’s urgent ecological concerns from a fresh perspective.
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