Many Returns—as its optative title implies—takes up questions around restitution and rematriation, or more specifically, land back and return from Indigenous perspectives, from Turtle Island to Palestine. Considering return as a reparative and corrective mode of relation to the land, the program speaks to severed connections under continued colonial and settler control, while revealing the multiple and layered forms of rematriation that resistance ushers. Sharing a range of strategies, from the poetic to the insurgent, the program balances the urgencies of the present—the right of return for refugees and displaced peoples—with ancestral time and the return of land management and environmental stewardship practices to Indigenous peoples. 

Palestinian artist Vivien Sansour shares the Palestinian Heirloom Seed Library project, which seeks to preserve and restore heritage and threatened seed varieties, Indigenous Palestinian farming practices, and the cultural stories and identities associated with them from colonial erasure and environmental change; Indigenous Yaqui and Jewish multidisciplinary artist Tehila speaks to her artistic practice as a Water Protector and Land Guardian; and Krystal Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne), speaks to her organizing and activism protecting the environmental rights and lands of Indigenous people. This program builds on Seminar 6: Indigenous Cultural Revitalization: Rematriation and Preservation, organized with Borderlands Curatorial Fellow Larissa Nez (Diné).

Correction* Seminar Series 

The twelve-part Correction* Seminar Series is structured as an open curriculum and presented from September 2022 through May 2024. Led by Vera List Center faculty and staff, each monthly seminar in this two-year series explores the perils and potentials of the political, social, and metaphorical implications of “correction.” Bridging theory and practice, Correction* unfolds through three distinct research clusters every semester set to guide our joint investigation into Restitution, the Body, and Carcerality. It is presented as part of the Barbara Jordan Lectures: The State of Democracy series.

The Vera List Center is committed to ensuring that our programs are accessible to and inclusive of all. Please let us know when registering if you need any accommodation.