The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) and SITE SANTA FE are collaborating on a major exhibition titled 'Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969,' running from June 5 through September 7, 2026. The exhibition foregrounds performance as a foundational force in contemporary Native art, featuring over 100 works by more than 40 artists and collectives, including Rebecca Belmore, Nicholas Galanin, Jeffrey Gibson, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Highlights include digitized footage of Spiderwoman Theater shown for the first time since its original live debut, and archival materials from the IAIA Research Center for Contemporary Native Arts.
This exhibition matters because it is the first major show to position performance as an origin point for contemporary Native art, tracing a lineage from the late 1960s—a period of political activism and reassertion of Indigenous identity. The collaboration underscores Santa Fe’s pivotal role in shaping Native performance and artistic self-determination, and highlights the enduring legacy of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) as a site of pedagogical and artistic innovation. By combining historical reckoning with living practice, the exhibition invites audiences to engage deeply with Indigenous performance as a language of resilience and sovereignty.