This past May, in partnership with the City of Boston and the MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), Boston Public Art Triennial launched its inaugural exhibition Triennial 2025: The Exchange. On view through the end of October, the city-wide exhibition features 21 site-specific sculptures, interactive installations and performances by local, national and international artists that address the themes of climate and biodiversity, indigeneity and shared humanity.
Cannupa Hanska Luger (Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara)/Lakota), Transmutation. Installation view at University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston Public Art Triennial. Photo: Faith Ninivaggi.“Navigating [Boston] has led me to create this exhibition and come up with the premise, and with working with Tess Lukey, arrive at the idea of collaboration, the idea of silos, the idea of the massive challenges we face today,” says co-curator and Triennial artistic director Pedro Alonzo. “We cannot face alone and breaking down silos in order to work together is really the heart of this exhibition. Many of [the artists] have chosen to highlight ancient forms of knowledge and deeper forms of understanding as a way to move forward as a society.”
An impressive roster of Native American artists were invited to participate in the project including New Mexico-based Cannupa Hanska Luger, an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation and is of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota and European descent. His innovative sculpture Transmutation explores the loss of America’s buffalo population, while highlighting Indigenous resilience. Sam Toabe, director of Arts on the Point at University of Massachusetts Boston, says, “His artwork, Transmutation, will bring together members of our Native American and Indigenous studies program, art and art history students, and the local community, to help share and uphold histories, current realities, and potential futures of contemporary indigeneity.”
New Red Order, Material Monument to Thomas Morton (Playing Indian). Installation View at Marketplace Center, Boston Public Art Triennial. Photo: Caitlin Cunningham.
New York City collective New Red Order, comprised of Adam Khalil, Zack Khalil and Jackson Polys, further explores Philip Deloria’s concept of “playing Indian,” referring to non-Native simplifications and often inaccurate representation of Indigenous culture to serve their own purposes. Their project offers a site for inverted re-enactments, as well as acts of atonement.
Alaska-based Tlingít and Unangax̂ artist Nicholas Galanin has created the public installation I Think a Monument Goes Like This, which contemplates the loss of Indigenous knowledge as a result of colonization. Galanin’s installation highlights the historical exploitation of Indigenous cultures and land, while stressing the necessity of Indigenous self-determination. “Nicholas challenges us to confront inherited narratives and compels us to engage with and redress the misappropriation of Indigenous visual culture,” says Lisa Tung, executive director of MassArt Art Museum. “We are honored to showcase his thought-provoking installation.”
Nicholas Galanin (Tlingít/Unangax), I think it goes like this (pick yourself up), Boston Public Art Triennial. Photo: Faith Ninivaggi.
Galanin will also be presenting a new piece, Aáni yéi xat duwasáakw (I am called Land) in MAAM’s Paine Gallery. “This work is a reminder that everything living, engineered and built comes from the land and depends on land and water,” says Lukey, Alonzo’s co-curator. “This piece and the Boston Public Art Triennial reflect on the impact of our presence in this world.
“This exhibition] is about the artists and the communities they are a part of and represent, it’s about making space for art and artists in Boston and those diverse perspectives that they bring this city,” continues Lukey.
Nicholas Galanin (Tlingít/Unangax), I think it goes like this (pick yourself up), Boston Public Art Triennial. Photo: Faith Ninivaggi.
Alonzo adds, “Rather than presenting fixed answers, the Triennial invites audiences to explore alternatives through projects that draw on emotional, social, and spiritual ways of knowing. Each work is an entry point for deeper understanding, not a conclusion. My co-curator, Tess Lukey, and I hope these artworks encourage meaningful discussions.”
Visit the Boston Public Art Triennial website for details. —
Through October 31, 2025
Triennial 2025: The Exchange
Boston, MA, www.thetriennial.org
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