Stereotype: Misconceptions of the Native American w/ Destroying the
Cannupa Hanska Luger, 2013
ceramic, mixed media, performance
dimensions vary

Cannupa Hanska Luger’s solo exhibition Stereotype: Misconceptions of the Native American premiered in 2013 at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), Santa Fe, NM.

The exhibition included 8 hand-built ceramic “boomboxes” which the artist created to embody preconceived notions about Native people supported by popular culture that have been invented, imagined and rooted within the American public's social conscience.

The central event for the show was a staged performance by Luger titled, Destroying the Stereotype (2013). This durational activation took place inside the museum where the artist methodically smashed each of the hand-built ceramic and mixed media sculptures on view and in turn the stereotypes the work embodied - the community witnessing this destruction. The remains of the destroyed sculptures were placed on view for the duration of the exhibition as a reminder of the agency and power Native people have to control their own narratives.