Indigenous voices reshape how we see our world and place within it

Britain is set to witness its biggest exhibition of modern Native North American art, as Hold to This Earth comes to Yorkshire. Selected by Sarah Coulson and sourced from Santa Fe’s prestigious Tia Collection, the exhibition gathers pieces by artists from more than 35 tribal nations. Their pieces occur at a particularly charged moment, as the United States gets ready to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—a document rooted in colonial history that Indigenous peoples have long resisted. Rather than celebrating that narrative, these artists present a strong alternative perspective, exploring millennia-old traditions, the exploitation of Native peoples, and urgent contemporary issues including climate change to water rights. Their work interrogates how we perceive our relationship to the natural world and humanity’s position in it.

A significant exhibition comes to Yorkshire

The introduction of Hold to This Earth represents a significant milestone for British viewers new to current Native North American creative practice. For many years, Indigenous creative work has been underrepresented in mainstream galleries, restricted to ethnographic museums or overlooked entirely in preference for European and American established narratives. This exhibition significantly undermines that established order, showcasing pieces by seasoned and emerging artists whose work span sculpture, ceramics, textiles and installation. The remarkable scale of the display—the biggest exhibition of its type ever presented in Britain—demonstrates a overdue acknowledgement of these perspectives and the important viewpoints they bring to pressing global discussions.

Exhibition organiser Sarah Coulson has curated a collection that refuses simple classification or tokenism. Rather than displaying Indigenous art as historical object or anthropological curiosity, the show establishes these artists as contemporary practitioners engaging with pressing issues: ecological damage, water rights, cultural sovereignty and the consequences of colonialism. Several works were commissioned specifically for Yorkshire, reflecting a commitment to conversation with artists and visitors. This approach transforms the exhibition from a static presentation into an dynamic exchange, inviting visitors to reconsider their personal connection to land, community and the environment through Indigenous viewpoints that stretch back millennia.

• Artists come from more than 35 separate Indigenous nations across North America
• Works examine climate change, water rights, and environmental justice concerns
• Multiple important pieces were recently commissioned specifically for this show
• The show challenges conventional narratives of American heritage and independence

Contemporary artwork drawing from ancient traditions

What sets apart the artists in Hold to This Earth is their deep ability to blend ancestral knowledge into boldly modern forms. Rather than viewing Indigenous traditions as artefacts of history, these practitioners harness them as living, evolving languages capable of addressing today’s most pressing crises. Rose B Simpson’s towering Aztec mother goddess, crafted from raw clay, embodies this synthesis—the ancient deity emerges from the very earth that sustains us, a visceral reminder of humanity’s connection to nature. Similarly, Raven Halfmoon’s sculptural work draws on Caddo origin stories whilst employing materials and techniques that feel urgently present.

This methodology challenges Western assumptions about the divide between “traditional” and “contemporary” art. The artists reject such limiting binaries, rather illustrating that Indigenous creative expressions have always been dynamic and attuned to their moment. Their work indicates that engaging with ancestral wisdom isn’t merely about nostalgia or regression, but rather accessing intellectual and spiritual frameworks vital to imagining new possibilities. By rooting their practice in millennial-old knowledge systems, these artists present alternatives to extractive and exploitative dynamics that have defined Western interaction with land and resources.

Merging heritage alongside contemporary style

Jeffrey Gibson exemplifies this creative fusion, merging Native American dance, music and ceremonial dress with references to club culture and striking DayGlo palettes. His work shows that Indigenous identity and expression need not be confined to prescribed aesthetic categories. Instead, Gibson and his peers draw freely from their cultural repositories whilst interacting with global popular culture, technology and contemporary social movements. This eclecticism reflects lived experience—Indigenous communities exist within modern-day realities whilst sustaining deep connections to ancestral practices and worldviews.

Diego Romero’s striking ceramic vessel additionally showcases this cross-cultural approach. Its colour scheme evokes ancient Greek pottery, yet features comic book-style characters inspired by a vintage science fiction film imagining Mayans travelling to space. Such imaginative blends aren’t merely decorative; they assert Indigenous peoples’ right to occupy all expressive registers and cultural spaces. These artists refuse to be confined by outside expectations, instead asserting complete creative control to draw from whatever sources inspire them whilst sustaining their unique cultural viewpoints and priorities.

Reconnecting with our relationship with the Earth

A connecting theme runs through Hold to This Earth: the artists’ deep understanding of humanity’s connection to the natural world. Rather than regarding the planet as a resource to be exploited, these Indigenous creators present alternative frameworks grounded in millennia of ecological stewardship and sacred exchange. Their work confronts the extractive mindset that has defined Western industrial society, proposing instead a model of parity between people and planet. This isn’t merely artistic commentary; it embodies a working approach urgently needed as environmental crises intensify globally.

The material forms themselves convey this message. Rose B Simpson’s imposing Aztec maternal deity grasps the natural clay from which she emerges, manifesting a physical bond to soil and origin. Raven Halfmoon’s figure, drawing on Caddo creation myths of people rising out of underground realms, appears sculpted from primeval mud itself. These works convert substances into statements about community and shared dependence. By making visible the Earth’s role in their creation, the artists encourage audiences to reconsider their own relationship with the ground beneath their feet and the systems sustaining all life.

• Indigenous frameworks provide environmentally responsible approaches to Western models of extraction with nature
• Artists work with unrefined materials to highlight physical connection to their origins and soil
• Ancient spiritual practices offer intellectual resources for imagining alternative ecological futures
• The exhibition reveals that ecological wisdom and modern artistic practice are fundamentally linked
• These works encourage viewers to reassess humanity’s place as part of rather than separate from the natural world

Campaigning and commemoration via artistic perspective

The artists included in Hold to This Earth do not shy away from political activism, directing modern conflicts into impactful works of art. Yatika Starr Fields’s sculptures, constructed using reclaimed tent materials that previously housed thousands of protesters, document the opposition against the Dakota Access Pipeline—a conflict that posed a risk to the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux. By transforming these simple materials into artworks, Fields transforms protest into permanence, guaranteeing that acts of resistance are neither forgotten nor diminished. Her practice illustrates how Indigenous artists regain authority by capturing their own histories rather than allowing them to be written by others.

This commitment to activism permeates multiple art forms within the exhibition. Many artists weave past suffering and present inequities into their work, refusing the comfort of apolitical aesthetics. Their pieces serve as both testimony and tool for reform, speaking to communities whilst compelling broader audiences to face difficult realities about colonial history, economic abuse and continued land theft. By placing such work at the heart of an international exhibition, the artists claim their right to shape narratives about their own histories and tomorrow. recovering cultural authority long denied to Indigenous peoples.

Paying tribute to those whose voices were silenced

The exhibition’s continued presence represents a form of remembrance for Indigenous peoples whose histories have been systematically erased or sidelined. Works like Zoë Urness’s No More Stolen Sisters explicitly confront the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, ensuring their names and stories remain visible. Through art, these creators honour those whose voices were stolen, transforming galleries into places for collective mourning and resistance. This commitment to remembrance goes further than individual works, permeating the entire exhibition as a powerful statement about whose histories matter and warrant being shared.

Collective resources, shared responsibility

A notable thread running through Hold to This Earth is the artists’ deep understanding of the human bond with the natural world. Rather than viewing the Earth as a asset to extract from, these Indigenous makers showcase different modes of being in balance alongside the land. Rose B Simpson’s towering Aztec mother goddess directly clutches the natural material from which she is formed, whilst Raven Halfmoon’s figure—crafted from densely textured primal clay—draws upon Caddo origin stories of coming forth from an underground realm. These works manifest a material and spiritual bond with the soil that confronts Western extraction methods.

Curator Sarah Coulson emphasises this fundamental focus: “Artists address how our extractive profiteering connection to the Earth might be reconsidered.” The exhibition demonstrates that Indigenous cultural expressions deliver beyond stylistic choices, but conceptual systems for ecological responsibility. By honouring materials as sacred rather than expendable, these artists invite audiences to rethink humanity’s position in natural environments. Their vision transcends tribal boundaries—as one artist remarks, “We have a collective sky and stars”—suggesting that environmental responsibility is a universal imperative anchored in Indigenous wisdom.