Native Art Department International facts for kids

Native Art Department International (NADI) is a cool art team from Toronto. It's made up of a husband and wife, Maria Hupfield (born 1975) and Jason Lujan (born 1971). They work together to put on art shows. Sometimes they show their own art in these shows, and often they create new art just for them. They do this to help Native American and First Nations artists show their work in new ways. An art critic named Gabrielle Moser said they are great at working together, supporting decolonial ideas, and not being competitive.

Background and history

Who are Maria and Jason?

Maria Hupfield is from the Ojibwe people and belongs to the Wasauksing First Nation. Jason Lujan is Mestizo, meaning he has mixed heritage.

Maria believes it's important for artists to share their own stories and ideas. She says, "Artists should create and explain their own work. This way, art places don't define it for us without us knowing." Jason told the Tacoma Art Museum that Native artists can create anything they want today. He feels the art world is wide open for them. He thinks artists have many good things to say about everything.

Their online presence

In 2015, Maria and Jason started a blog. On their blog, they share what they are doing as Native Art Department International. They also publish interviews with other artists and smart people. They write articles about interesting topics. They have shown their art and curated shows for others at places like Artists Space and the Kitchen in New York.

Curatorial projects

Curating means choosing and organizing art for an exhibition. Native Art Department International has put together many cool art shows.

Shows where they included their own art

Some exhibitions by Native Art Department International include:

• "free play" at Trestle Projects in Brooklyn.
• "Chez BRKLYN" in Galerie Se Konst in Falun, Sweden in 2016.
• "In Dialogue" at the University of Toronto Art Centre in 2017. The last two shows also featured art by other artists, like Duane Linklater.

Shows where they featured other artists

They have also curated projects where their own art was not included. These projects focused on showing the work of other artists. Some examples are:

• "First Things Don't Come First," at the Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film in Durham, Ontario, Canada in 2017.
• "Without Us There Is No You," a screening of six video artworks by Indigenous artists. This event happened at Artists Space. It celebrated Art in America's first issue about Indigenous contemporary art.
• "Oh So You've Had an Indian Friend?," an evening in 2018. This event celebrated the life and work of artist Diane Burns. Other artists and groups like Sky Hopinka were part of it.

Other art activities

Maria and Jason also take part in other art events. These include group shows, residencies, and talks.

Group shows

They were part of "There Is No Then and Now; Only Is and Is Not." This show featured a video projection by artist Dennis Redmoon Darkeem. It was part of a larger exhibition called "The Racial Imaginary Institute: On Whiteness" at the Kitchen in 2018.

Residencies

In 2018, they had a residency at Fourth Arts Block. A residency is a time when artists live and work in a specific place. They worked with the Chinatown Art Brigade during this time. NADI installed two art pieces there.

Talks and discussions

They also participate in discussions about art. They had a panel discussion with Dennis Darkeem and Jeffrey Gibson at the Drawing Center. They talked about drawing, heritage, Indigenous art, ceremonies, and making art in new ways. They also gave a talk at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This talk was connected to an exhibition called "Art of Native America: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection."