INDIGENOUS A&E: Ghost writer, aunties and fashionistas, made for theater
Sandra Hale SchulmanSpecial to ICT
The latest: Rogue artist in the museum, NDN Vogue and fierce family, play explores real vs. fake.
As an artist who made his name painting (artful) rogue slogans in public, Jaque Fragua, Jemez Pueblo, has come in from the cold to produce Ghost Writing, a compelling, mid-career retrospective at the Plains Museum in Fargo, N.D., April 5-March 15, 2026.
Drawing inspiration from the Ghost Dance – the spiritual movement thought to restore traditional Indigenous lands and ways of life – his art reclaims and reinterprets cultural iconography that has been historically misappropriated by non-Native entities.
'They're calling it a mid-career retrospective,' Fragua told ICT. 'It's kind of funny to me, the earliest piece in the show is 2010. That's not as early as I've been making work. By 2010, I started finding a direction where I wanted to go with my art. There are paintings, sculptures, installation work and I'm showing digital works, NFT pieces, and it will be more of an interactive situation so people can engage with the projections.'
There are new pieces and some from collectors.
'It's cathartic looking at the progression because of the spaces that I've created this work in, from living out of a car to having a studio,' Fragua said. 'It's been giving me a sense of identity that I wasn't aware of at the time. It was expressive, spur of the moment artwork that this is what I was going through, this is what I was doing. It's charged emotionally, socially and politically.'
'Now I can see that it's all become a voice in itself. That's where the title of the show comes from. It's ideas, a spirit or voice that is talking through the work. I've always thought there is something in the room, other than me, that was there to help me or guide me through creating these works, much like ceremonies for Indigenous people, being open to the muse and seeing where it takes you.'
One of his well-known works is 'This is Indian Land,' painting/graffiti he made in Los Angeles that was done as a 'friendly competition' he says of 'your tenacity, your bravery, and maybe just how much you hate authority. I took that phrase from the Alcatraz wall. A lot of the graffiti and the paintings that I'm inspired by come from historical places. It's in the vein or in the spirit of those phrases, but I always put my own twist on it. In this case it was using my style of typography, though I didn't tag it with my name.'
He made the work in Indian Alley in Los Angeles, learning about the historical events of relocation, settlement and economy in the city through that project. He photographed it right away as it may be painted over quickly.
Beyond his museum show, Fragua has been making his mark in the Mojave Desert with a new mural in Desert Hot Springs to be unveiled in mid-April to coincide with Coachella Music Festival. And he has a permanent mural at the Airstream campground called Auto Camp in Joshua Tree. He has work in the traveling multi-artist show 'Exploding Native Inevitable.'
Fragua will be giving a talk at the museum: Artside Chat: Jaque Fragua's Ghost Writing Thursday, April 24, 6-7 p.m.
Two new spring reads hit the shelves this month, celebrating family and finding your purpose through your culture.
At the Native fashion events in Santa Fe, New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver, Christian Allaire, Ojibwe, has become a front-row feature as the senior writer for Vogue magazine. Having an Indigenous writer cover the scene has been a game-changer for the growing Native fashion scene and for Vogue, which had never had anyone covering the shows and designers with a genuine background and knowledge.
How a fashion-obsessed rez kid who grew up on the Nipissing First Nation reserve in Northern Ontario eating bannock at powwows but feeling out of place made it to the height of fashion journalism is told in his new memoir, 'From the Rez to the Runway:Forging My Path in Fashion," out on March 25 from HarperCollins.
He made it to New York on a circuitous route involving unpaid summer internships and the loophole of his tribe's status card. He managed to work his way up to his dream job and create a much-needed niche for himself covering Native fashion.
He previously released "The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures," in 2021.
In a celebration of extended family by Indigenous author and illustrator team Laurel Goodluck and Steph Littlebird, 'FIERCE AUNTIES!' is a charming tale of what makes aunties of all kinds so special, releasing April 15.
Aunties come in different forms with different stories and things that make them special. This story celebrates Indigenous women and the roles they play in children's lives. Many cultures revere aunties but define them as not just the sister of a parent, but any special grown-up woman in children's lives.
The bright illustrations show aunties and kids growing gardens, going to powwows, cooking and attending sports games.
Laurel Goodluck writes picture books with modern Native themes that reflect Native children's cultural experiences and everyday life, showing they have a unique and powerful perspective. Her books include 'Forever Cousins,' 'Rock Your Mocs,' 'She Persisted: Deb Haaland,' and 'Too Much.' Laurel was raised in the San Francisco Bay area, coming from an intertribal background of Mandan and Hidatsa from the prairies of North Dakota and Tsimshian from a rainforest in Alaska.
Steph Littlebird, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, is the illustrator. Littlebird is known for her vibrant imagery that combines traditional styles of her Indigenous ancestors with contemporary illustration aesthetics. Her work often examines issues related to Native identity, cultural resilience, and responsible land stewardship.
Larissa FastHorse and her new play, Fake It Until You Make It, moves to DC's Arena Stage (April 3-May 4) with Amy Brenneman leading the cast.
FastHorse is the first Native American writer to have a mainstage production on the Mark Taper Forum stage. Her new work shines a hilarious light on 'shifters' who exist in a world of self-determined identity. The humorous, thought-provoking play asks: Who decides who you are? Who says what you can be? And is anything real if anyone can be anything?
The play takes an absurd look at what defines identity in today's world, and the lengths people will go through to change it.
Along with being the first known Native, female playwright to be produced on Broadway, she is currently represented with her adaptation of Peter Pan, which is now touring the country. She is also hard at work on a commission for The Public.
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