The Fowler Museum at UCLA presents Fire Kinship: Southern California Native Ecology and Art. The opening art party scheduled for Saturday, January 11, 2025 has been postponed. We will adjust this post when we know more details about the opening event.
This is the second PST Art exhibition at the museum and is curated by Daisy Ocampo Diaz, Michael Chavez, and Lina Tejeda. Collaborations involve Southern California leaders like Lazaro Arvizu and Stanley Rodriguez. Fire Kinship spotlights Native practices that view fire as essential to the well-being of our community. In addition to challenging fear-based attitude about fire, it focuses on the vital aspect of land stewardship, as well as tribal sovereignty. The exhibition will run through July 13, 2025
The Fowler Museum Fire Kinship
Fire Kinship features a living history that focuses on the expertise of Tongva, Cahuilla, Luiseño, and Kumeyaay communities from the past as well as the current day. During the 18th century before colonization, Southern California Native communities managed ecosystems using controlled burns. These fire-based land management practices ranged from small burns to larger burns. The former helped to spur healthy growth, while the latter eradicated invasive species, and also reduced fuel loads to prevent destructive wildfires.
This kinship reframes fire as a generative conduit, a tool for connecting to our nation’s history while fostering a sustainable future. Artifacts like baskets, ollas, rabbit sticks, and bark skirts are all part of the exhibition. Thus demonstrating partnerships between people, land, and fire. Other works incorporate color and growth patterns of the California poppy therefore demonstrating the impact on our beloved state flower.
Contemporary artists respond to these cultural objects with newly commissioned works. Their creations spark dialogues about critique, reflection, and Indigenous futurism. Highlights include Weshoyot Alvitre’s Dormidera portrait series honoring Indigenous women and Emily Clarke’s Womanfire poem, imitating a Cahuilla basket pattern. Gerald Clarke Jr.’s multimedia work, The Heart is Fire, integrates birdsong, video, and natural materials.
Leah Mata Fragua’s The Sun is On the Ground installation features poppy-dyed sculptural paper evoking Native land stewardship. Summer Paa’ila Herrera contributes a ceramic vessel and skirt made from burned cottonwood bark. Lazaro Arvizu’s Sand Acknowledgment installation depicts sand-painting traditions connecting land, people, and celestial elements.
The Fowler Museum will also offer community events and educational programs in conjunction with the run of Fire Kinship. Those will be announced on their website in the coming months.
A birdsong blessing at the opening celebration on January 11, 2025, will officially launch the exhibition.
What: Fire Kinship: Southern California Native Ecology and Art.
Where: The Fowler Museum at UCLA, 308 E Young Dr N, LA, CA 90024
When: Postponed until further notice
Website: https://fowler.ucla.edu
For additional art exhibitions, and performances as well as culinary events, see LAArtParty’s Upcoming Events Page.
