I Follow Rivers

This guide offers readers an overview of the permanent collection of modern and contemporary art by Indigenous artists from Latin America in the collection of the Denver Art Museum, which totals nearly three hundred objects. The works include painting, sculpture, installation, works on paper, textiles, photography, and video, and the artists hail from more than twenty diverse communities from Mexico in the north to Chile and Argentina in the south, with significant representation from those centered in Brazil.

Through two essays and object entries, I Follow Rivers explores the profound resilience and evolving cultural landscapes of Indigenous peoples and artists throughout Latin America. The featured artists navigate history, land, community, and change, each charting their own course through the cultures they carry and innovate. Spanning the early twentieth century to the present, including newly commissioned works, the complex and layered practices and imagery resist fixed categories. While these artists navigate a world shaped by colonialism, they forge new paths for themselves and their communities and affirm that Indigenous knowledge and creativity are not static. These communities are vital, transformative, and always in motion.

This guide accompanies the largest exhibition in the United States to ever feature modern and contemporary Latin American artists who are Indigenous. The presentation includes such internationally established artists as Claudia Alarcn, Denilson Baniwa, Edgar Calel, Seba Calfuqueo, Martn Chambi, Rosa Elena Curruchich, Venuca Evann, Claudia Martinez Garay, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe, Julia Isdrez, MAHKU (Huni Kuin Art Movement), Antnio Pichilla, Abel Rodriguez, and Kira Xonorika.