Diné Artist’s Work on View in Gallery Bergen
PARAMUS, N.J. – Explore the photography of Diné (Navajo Nation) artist Will Wilson, which intertwines the past, present and future of Indigenous cultural practices, with “Talking Tintypes: Examining the Portrayal of Native Americans” on view beginning Thursday, September 26 at 6 p.m. in Gallery Bergen, located in West Hall at Bergen Community College’s main campus in Paramus at 400 Paramus Road.
Wilson’s first-person work conveys the environmental and health impacts on Native Americans in the Southwest, while also capturing portraits of the region’s residents through tintype photography (a finishing process that places the selected image on thin sheet metal). Using QR codes and a downloadable app, visitors can scan the prints to watch video monologues and dances by the subjects. The exhibition also pairs Wilson’s work with period photographic prints depicting scenes of the Diné’s forced vacation of their homeland in Colorado.
The exhibition will open with a reception on September 26 and remain on view through Friday, December 20. For the gallery’s latest hours, visit gallery.bergen.edu. For more information, email tblunk@bergen.edu.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
Photo Caption: “Face to Face,” Will Wilson.