Ongoing
The Met
The Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection exhibition presents an extensive and profound showcase of Native American artistry from across the United States and Canada, celebrating both historic and contemporary works. This thoughtfully curated installation highlights the incredible diversity and depth of Indigenous cultural expression, providing visitors with a unique opportunity to engage with the rich visual traditions and narratives of more than fifty Indigenous groups.
Spanning a variety of artistic media such as painting, drawing, sculpture, textiles, quill and bead embroidery, basketry, and ceramics, the exhibition thoughtfully displays objects with multifaceted purposes—ranging from adornment and nourishment to hunting and ceremonial restoration. Most items date from the 18th and 19th centuries, illuminating the vibrant creative legacies of Native peoples during a challenging period characterized by ongoing colonialism and environmental transformation. The inclusion of contemporary and modern artworks demonstrates the unbroken continuity of Indigenous aesthetic lineages despite such historical disruptions.
The exhibition is organized geographically into seven distinct regions: Woodlands, Northwest Coast, Arctic, Plateau, Plains, Southwest, and California and Great Basin. Through this regional framing, visitors can appreciate the unique cultural contexts and artistic traditions that shape each area’s distinctive visual language and symbolic meanings.
This long-term installation primarily features promised gifts, donations, and loans from the prominent collectors Charles and Valerie Diker, alongside contributions from other patrons. Their generosity and conviction in the power of these works to enhance cultural and historical understandings have been pivotal in bringing this project to fruition. As a key milestone for The Met’s American Wing, which was established in 1924, the exhibition reinforces the museum’s commitment to foregrounding Native cultural expressions with respect, inclusivity, and authenticity.
Importantly, the American Wing acknowledges the original Native American and Indigenous communities who have been displaced from their ancestral lands and waters. The institution commits to active, ongoing relationships with contemporary artists and communities, recognizing these artworks not only as objects of aesthetic value but also as vibrant embodiments of sovereignty, identity, community, and intergenerational knowledge. This includes languages, ceremonies, origin stories, songs, dances, and connections to homelands.
The exhibition also embraces a collaborative framework, ensuring Indigenous perspectives guide the presentation and interpretation of the collection. This approach fosters respectful listening, meaningful dialogue, and educational initiatives that highlight Indigenous experiences within the museum’s broader programming. Furthermore, The Met engages in reflection about its historical legacies and strives to address ongoing environmental and social impacts relating to the lands and waters tied to these cultural expressions.
Complementing this exhibition is the related show Artistic Encounters with Indigenous America, which was held from December 3, 2018, to May 13, 2019, at The Met Fifth Avenue. Visitors interested in the depth and breadth of Indigenous art and its cultural significance will find both exhibitions enriching and inspiring.
For more information, visit the official exhibition page: Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection.
