The North Dakota Museum of Art opened their latest exhibit, titled “Stories of Place: Select Recent Acquisitions,” on Thursday, September 5. The exhibit will be shown at the NDMOA, located on the University of North Dakota’s campus at 261 Centennial Dr., until Sunday, December 1. 

The exhibit features selected artworks by Anna Sigrídur Arnar, a recent-hire curator for the NDMOA, which include paintings, photographs, quilts, and more that offer opportunities to reflect on “place” in a visual–arts and storytelling context. 

As the NDMOA’s curator for modern and contemporary art, one of Sigrídur Arnar’s main responsibilities is to oversee the permanent collection of the NDMOA. With an influx of art received by an anonymous donor, Sigrídur Arnar began analyzing these donated pieces to develop a theme for the exhibit. 

“I had no idea what the theme would be. So, I delved in and started reading about all the pieces that we have been getting in,” Sigrídur Arnar said. “I was reading, reading, reading, and then, the theme started suggesting itself.”  

The theme for the exhibit is in its title, “Stories of Place.” The Oxford English Dictionary refers to “place” as a particular part or region of space; a physical locality, a locale; a spot, a location; a region or part of the earth’s surface. However, in context to the exhibit, “place” takes on a new definition. 

“Place’ is a squishy or stretchy concept, you can make it mean a lot of different things,” Sigrídur Arnar said. “Place’ is not just a physical location on a map; it is about the community, the histories, and the memories.” 

After the theme started to progress, Sigrídur Arnar selected the artworks to complete the exhibit in two weeks. 

“This was a two-week process that is not recommended. I was like a crazy woman, just really buckling down,” Sigrídur Arnar said.  “You can ask these guys; I had my little block-out headphones and worked, but once I had the theme, more and more pieces started to fit.” 

Two of paintings shown in the exhibit were created by Vietnamese artist Teo Nguyen. After moving to the United States of America seeking refuge, Nguyen landed in California before moving to the Midwest in 2005. From being born in a coastal town to moving to the west coast, the works he painted encapsulate the midwestern landscapes he was exposed to. 

“As [Nguyen] was driving from California into the Midwest, around Iowa, he was looking out the window and was taken in by the vastness of it,” Sigrídur Arnar said. “It is a story of a ‘place,’ but it is a story of ‘place’ from somebody from the outside.” 

A quilt featured in the exhibit was constructed by Jamal Cyrus, who is based in Houston, Texas. Cyrus was a music historian, and within his works, sound is an element, not with musical instruments, but with a material’s vibrational quality. This can be observed in Cyrus’ denim quilt in the exhibit. This quilt has numbers on it, which reference FBI’s file numbers that the FBI used to track civil-rights protests. 

“Cyrus formed a collective with other artists, and they wanted to champion a particular place in the United States: the American South,” Sigrídur Arnar said. “Like the Midwest, a lot of people from the South feel they are overlooked. So, they were trying to capture the unique histories, the sites, the sounds, and the cultural traditions of the South.” 

Part of the NDMOA’s mission statement is to bring world-class art to North Dakota audiences. 

“I just traveled to the Venice Biennale, I go to New York regularly, and I used to live in Chicago. I see a lot of contemporary art, and I have taught it for a long time,” Sigrídur Arnar said. “I am not exaggerating, they are world-class. It meant that I could up my game.” 

Besides Nguyen’s paintings and Cyrus’ quilt, there are more pieces featured in the NDMOA’s exhibit, “Stories of Place: Selected Recent Acquisitions,” such as works dedicated to the Rando neighborhood, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, art from an American-Nigerian artist who tries to capture the poetics and forms of Lagos, Nigeria, and more. 

“I think different pieces speak to different people in different ways, and I’m hoping that it will make people reflect on what does ‘place’ mean for them,” Sigrídur Arnar said.  

Dylan Campbell is a Dakota Student General Reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].