Dripping Earth: Cannupa Hanska Luger

An ambitious and immersive exhibition, Dripping Earth: Cannupa Hanska Luger presents new work by the acclaimed artist. Luger brings his playful and innovative approach to The Joslyn’s renowned collection of watercolors, journals, and archives documenting the North American expedition (1832–34) of the German naturalist Prince Maximilian of Wied and the Swiss artist Karl Bodmer. Employing a vibrant mix of found and repurposed materials, such as afghan blankets and vintage sports equipment, Luger reimagines depictions of his Mandan and Hidatsa ancestors found in Bodmer’s work. Situating visitors within Missouri River landscapes now submerged by colonial damming projects, Luger reveals how such interventions continue to shape the land and its people.

The exhibition expands Luger’s ongoing speculative fiction series, Future Ancestral Technologies, which merges history with futuristic storytelling. Through dramatic lighting, monumental sculpture, and dynamic moving images, Luger plays with scale and perception, transforming the galleries into a world where past, present, and future collide. Dripping Earth features newly created ceramics, video projections, prints, and life-size bison regalia known as the Midéegaadi. Each work challenges conventional narratives, inviting visitors to envision a future where land, identity, and culture are reclaimed and transformed.

Dripping Earth: Cannupa Hanska Luger is organized by the Margre H. Durham Center for Western Studies at the Joslyn Art Museum. It is accompanied by an exhibition catalogue featuring reflections by the artist, community collaborators, knowledge bearers, and curators.

Pictured: Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara/Lakota, b. 1979), We Survive You—Midéegaadi, editorial photograph featuring 7 mixed media buffalo regalia made of repurposed materials, © Cannupa Hanska Luger, Photograph courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, Photograph by Brandon Soder, 2023