Most of an Indigenous art display at KU was vandalized. Now the rest has been stolen
Part of a Native American art exhibit at the University of Kansas has been stolen after other portions were vandalized earlier this month, spurring anger on campus that the work had again been successfully targeted.
The installation, “Native Hosts,” is the university’s common work of art for the year and had been on display since summer. The artist, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, is a 1976 KU graduate whose work is in collections at the Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
The exhibit, situated outdoors near the KU Spencer Museum of Art, consists of five panels that identify tribes who currently or historically inhabited the land that’s now Kansas. Four of the five panels were bent and knocked loose on Sept. 4 and were taken down to prevent further damage, the museum said.
The fifth panel remained on display until it was stolen this week, according to university officials.
“Unequivocally, we condemn this hurtful crime,” Chancellor Doug Girod and other top leaders said in a statement. “The implications extend far beyond the felony theft that it is and reach deeply into Native communities that have worked for visibility – themes reflected in ‘Native Hosts’ by artist Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds.”
Following the original vandalism, the KU Public Safety Office released an image of two individuals it identified as suspects. The image from 11:08 p.m on Sept. 4, apparently taken from a security camera, shows the two individuals walking on the sidewalk in front of the museum. No images of suspects in the theft have been released.
“So vandalism from two white ‘unknown’ individuals happens against Indigenous art, the response from admin is a email of support. The art has now been stolen. When are these acts of racism and violence going to be enough?” KU Student Body President Niya D. McAdoo tweeted.
Girod, Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer and museum director Saralyn Reece Hardy said in a statement that the university’s commitment to reinstalling the panels is “unwavering.” The university also plans to host what it calls a “public conversation” about the vandalism, theft and its effects on the community, they said.
The First Nations Student Association called for a gathering outside the Spencer Museum at 3 p.m. Thursday.
“We aren’t going anywhere and we will make it known that the art work, Native Hosts, is very much alive in each of us!!” the group said.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 1:09 PM.
