Reappropriating Redskins: Pellerossasogna (Red Skin Dream): Shelley Niro at the 50th La Biennale Di Venezia
Visual Anthropology Review, Fall 2004, v. 20, no. 2, pp. 22-35
Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004
This article examines the Indigenous Art Action Alliance's exhibit at the 2003 edition of the Venice Biennale, entitled Pellerossasogna [Red Skin Dream]. The author places particular focus on Shelley Niro's film The Shirt, which was a part of that exhibit. Said piece uses indigenous strategies of humour, parody, and camp to critique the touristic gaze of colonialism and invert it as a means of deconstructing stereotypes regarding the indigenous community. Concurrently, Mithlo's essay also analyzes how both stereotypical signifiers such as mascots and documentary images that have been historically situated help to perpetuate racism amongst the dominant culture.
ITEM 2004.172 – available for viewing in the Research Centre
Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited
The Shirt – Shelley Niro
Pellerossasogna [Red Skin Dream] – Indigenous Art Action Alliance (IA3)
Our Symbols – Nora Naranjo-Morse
Just Because You Wear Feathers in Your Hair, Don’t Make You an Indian – Laura Fragua
Honey Moccasin – Shelley Niro
Back to Future Present Past – Pipilotti Rist