Bard Graduate Center is a research institute for advanced, interdisciplinary study of diverse material worlds. We support the innovative scholarship of our faculty and students as well as resident fellows, guest curators and artists, and visiting speakers.

Photo by Fresco Arts Team.

Our Public Humanities + Research department focuses on making scholarly work widely available and accessible through the coordination of the fellowship program and public programming that combines academic research with exhibition-related events. Across the institution—from the classroom to the gallery, from publications to this website—we utilize digital media to facilitate and share original research. This section outlines current programming and provides a repository for past scholarly content.

“I’m curious about this legacy that’s inherently found within photography that is synonymous with memory, with identity, with resiliency.”

In This Episode

Anthropologist Hadley Jensen speaks with Diné photographer and curator Rapheal Begay about his life and work and what it means to pay attention to the things we take for granted. Through visual storytelling he foregrounds Indigenous aesthetics, embodied knowledges, and alternative ways of knowing that explore the Diné way of life. Begay describes with visceral clarity the dynamic landscape of the American Southwest and the knowledge systems that animate it.

Download a transcript of episode 1.

Listen on Spotify.

Rapheal Begay is a photographer and curator from the Navajo Nation. Currently based in Window Rock, AZ, he works as a public information officer for the Navajo Nation Division of Human Resources. In 2017, he obtained a BFA in art studio with a minor in arts management and undergraduate certification in museum studies from the University of New Mexico. As one of “12 New Mexico Artists to Know in 2020,” Begay utilizes visual storytelling as a means to engage and explore, with respect to and stewardship of, the Diné way of life. Through curatorial collaborations, he highlights, celebrates, and advocates for Queer and Indigenous art throughout the Southwest.

References

Special thanks to the Women’s International Study Center in Santa Fe for hosting Rapheal and Hadley for this interview.

The Fields of the Future podcast amplifies the voices and highlights the work of scholars, artists, and writers who are injecting new narratives into object-centered thinking. Join us for engaging conversations between BGC faculty and fellows and their guests.