FSU MoFA exhibition examines Indigenous relationships with water
A new 糖心vlog exhibition is highlighting how water shapes cultural geographies and artistic practice, featuring artists from Florida and all over the world.
鈥淲ater Ways: Indigenous Ecologies and Florida Heritage鈥 is hosted in collaboration with the FSU (NAIS), the and the . The exhibition, which opens Sept. 18, with a reception from 5:30-7:30 p.m., includes a slate of programming to be held now through its closing March 14.
The title plays on the dual meaning of 鈥渨ays,鈥 exploring both the physical paths and routes shaped by water as well as the ways 鈥 or various methods and practices 鈥 through which Indigenous communities express their relationships with water.
鈥淭he exhibition highlights how Florida鈥檚 Indigenous material heritage embodies ways of living with water and relates these practices to parallel traditions across the Americas and Asia,鈥 said Elizabeth A. Cecil, Timothy Gannon Associate Professor of Religion and the exhibition鈥檚 curator. 鈥淲ater Ways also invites reflection on pressing environmental issues, including water access, ecological change and climate resilience, by highlighting how communities have long understood and responded to the challenges of living with water.鈥
Water Ways is free and open to the public. In addition to hosting events such as a symposium and a book club, the exhibit will display historical artifacts from regional collections and art from MoFA鈥檚 permanent holdings. Pieces by three contemporary artists whose work touches on themes of Indigeneity, water and heritage will also be featured.
鈥淥ne piece we鈥檙e debuting is by Harold Garc铆a V (El Quinto), a Cuban-born, New York鈥揵ased artist,鈥 Cecil said. 鈥溾楳elaza Lake鈥 is an installation painted with molasses that overlays an image of a Domino Sugar refinery on a Seminole patchwork design. In the work, arrows pierce the wall and molasses drips, pointing to the sugar industry鈥檚 destructive impact on the Everglades.鈥
Water Ways also displays work by Samboleap Tol, an artist based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, who is part of the Khmer diaspora 鈥 people of Khmer ethnicity living outside of their ancestral homeland of Cambodia. Tol utilizes Buddhist rituals to process generational trauma and ecological vulnerability through performance and participatory installations.
Wilson Bowers, another featured artist and member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, reimagines tribal patchwork designs across varied media, like murals and skateboards, to sustain Indigenous heritage.
In addition, the exhibition includes waterbird-decorated ceramics, tools made from shark teeth and shells, paintings, a bronze breastplate and a mask used in Bh奴ta Kola, a form of spirit worship. This mask of the boar-deity Panjurli, on loan from the New Orleans Museum of Art, is used in ceremonies in which a dancer embodies the spirit to address community concerns tied to land and water.
鈥淲ater is not only a resource but also a relationship,鈥 Cecil said. 鈥淚 hope visitors see Florida鈥檚 springs, rivers, and wetlands as living partners within longer Indigenous ecologies and also recognize how commodification and extractive economies have reshaped those relations.鈥
Public events are scheduled throughout the exhibition鈥檚 run to showcase the art pieces and open conversations about hydrology and heritage, including a book club series with and a panel discussion considering Tallahassee鈥檚 water-related issues with speakers from other local organizations. MoFA will host artist talks by Bowers and Garc铆a starting on Nov. 13. Artist Tol will perform at the closing reception, scheduled for Feb. 26. The 鈥淔utures of Water鈥 symposium, jointly organized with NAIS and featuring a cohort of invited speakers alongside FSU faculty, will take place in late February.
To plan a visit and learn more about the exhibition and other upcoming museum events, visit
