Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California’s South Coast Range showing in Santa Cruz

Photographer and documentarian Kirti Bassendine unveils her latest exhibition “Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California’s South Coast Range”, a revolutionary project showcasing photography and short films of elders and culture-bearers from tribal nations, councils, and communities along California’s Southern Coast Range: San Francisco Peninsula, East and South Bay through the Santa Cruz mountains, Monterey Bay, Gavilan and Santa Lucia Mountains, and lower Salinan Valley.

Bassendine’s photographs are accompanied by powerful personal statements from Native community members calling attention to cultural connections to the land; rematriation: restoring the relationship between Indigenous people and their ancestral land; and ecological and climate breakdown.

The exhibition includes photographic portraits, personal statements and short films, to be shown at multiple venues around the region. Each exhibit will be opened by a reception where project participants will share their stories, demonstrate and hold a Q&A panel discussion around issues raised by the exhibit.

There are upcoming exhibitions and receptions in Santa Cruz in mid-August.

Open to the public August 17-27 at Santa Cruz Museum of Arts and History, with an opening reception August 19th. This smaller exhibit represents 7 cultural groups indigenous to territories near Santa Cruz.
● Exhibition open: August 17-27th 2023
● Opening Reception August 19th 2-5pm
● Santa Cruz Museum of Arts and History, Atrium 1st Floor, 705 Front St, Downtown Santa Cruz, CA
● https://www.santacruzmah.org/exhibitions/contemporary-indigenous-voices
● Free to the public