On Indigenous Peoples' Day, the nonprofit media lab Amplifier launched an unsanctioned augmented reality exhibition called “Encoded” inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The project features 17 Native artists who digitally overlay their own works onto iconic American paintings in the museum’s American Wing, such as Thomas Cole’s *View on the Catskills – Early Autumn* and Emanuel Leutze’s *Washington Crossing the Delaware*. Visitors can view the 25 altered masterpieces on their smartphones or iPads while at the museum, and Amplifier representatives are on-site to distribute guides and offer tours through the end of the year.
The project matters because it directly challenges the long-standing dominance of European settler perspectives in major museum collections, inserting Indigenous voices and narratives into spaces that have historically excluded them. By using guerrilla tactics and augmented reality, “Encoded” bypasses institutional gatekeeping and forces a public dialogue about representation, land rights, and whose stories are told in American art history. The rapid execution—curated in just one month after an anonymous Indigenous donor provided funding—underscores both the urgency and the grassroots energy behind this intervention.