Curatorial Statement

Beyond the Whitewash brings together Native, Black, and White artists to engage in a significant visual conversation about Race. Lead Co-Curator and visual artist Shelby Head has invited artists from the Oklahoma Native, Black, and her own White communities to respond to her series An Infrastructure of Silence, which confronts her ancestral colonial heritage. In this work, she deconstructs the complex histories and realities of her white supremacist descendants complicit in Indigenous removals and enslavement.

The genocidal actions of Indian removals by the United States policy have left traumatizing generational effects—including the loss of cultural practices and identity for Native people. Since first contact with Caucasian explorers, we have endured the consequences of racism. Colonial powers used the idea of Race to divide, rank, and control our people. Because our skin was red, it was seen as dirty, classifying Native people into a lower order of humankind and validating their dehumanizing treatment. This colonial ideology persists today, and people of color continue to receive unjust and dehumanizing treatment. It is up to each of us to end harmful colonial ideologies and practices.

There is a global movement among Indigenous peoples, especially the younger generations, to “Decolonize”—to dispute Western-centric narratives and reposition Indigenous thought, histories, and knowledge into the mainstream. It is time to decolonize Race to regain cultural identity, freedom, and humanity.

As the Native Co-Curator for the exhibition, I have chosen three artists whose work exemplifies decolonization. Their art interrupts the notion of Race by creating visuals and sounds that break free from the marginalization of Native art. Most often, but not always, identity and cultural experiences inform their creative articulations. Today, Native people are experiencing the most freedom they have had since our first ancestors began fighting for humane treatment and equal rights. This freedom has opened new opportunities for Native artists to explore contemporary mediums, styles, and materials, while continuing to honor ancestral heritage in large or small ways.

Together, the works of these featured Native artists address identity, family, freedom, and place—essential aspects of life for all of us. We ask the audience to question privilege, attitude, and knowledge as we move forward on a positive path. Let us transform our relationship with Race, decolonize our minds, and break free from the hierarchical ideology imposed upon us.

I applaud Shelby for her courageous spirit in organizing this collaborative exhibition and engaging in what can be a difficult conversation. She understands her roles and responsibilities within humanity, working to improve conversations about Race while reconciling her complex ancestral history of white supremacy and centering the voices of people of color.

Let us move beyond the whitewash of truth, history, understanding, stereotypes, misconceptions, generational trauma, and institutional policy. Let us raise our racial consciousness to co-exist peacefully within humanity.