How to Update a Classic: The Renewal of Here, Now and Always at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

Summary

Here, Now and Always (HNA) opened at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) in Santa Fe, NM in 1997. This permanent exhibition is an introduction to the peoples of the US Southwest and was the first in the US to be curated by an expansive community. It was developed through the participation of more than thirty individuals and with seven core community curators. The community voices dominate the exhibit text and the community curators determined the exhibition message, object selection, and layout. HNA later served as the model for the initial exhibits at the National Museum of the American Indian.

Over the course of twenty years, however, HNA has not been updated, so that today it suffers from a static design, obsolete technology, and noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. MIAC has embarked on an ambitious plan to renew and update the exhibition while honoring the original curators and the inclusive process through which it was created. This paper addresses our plans to update the archaeology in the exhibition while respecting the intent of the original curators and the sensitivity of the topic.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 18817