Skateboarding occupies a central place among the younger generation of contemporary indian artists. Rather than as breaking with the past they view skateboarding and graffiti on a continuum with traditional practices such as ritual dancing and weaving. Employing a fine arts approach to disposable objects, artists often decorate skateboard decks with hand painted originals. Of course, through use these motifs would quickly wear off and become but a memory. Fleeting and vanishing … like sandpaintings.
Skateboarding in native culture has been the subject of numerous exhibitions, at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona and National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C., among others.
Check out this video by skateboarder/filmmaker Dustinn Craig
…and this teaser for my friend’s Nanna Dalunde and Douglas Miles collaborative film ”Apache Chronicle”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK8-DFgq4Pk
Come see more native skateboard culture and low-brow art at Kiva Gallery!