Ways of Knowing
Skip to main content

Ways of Knowing

If history is only as real as what is remembered, and what is remembered is seen as truth, then questioning the truth becomes a means of altering reality. The 11 artists featured in Ways of Knowing excavate these dynamics with a sense of curiosity, rigor, and play. Acknowledging that information is produced and research is partial, they challenge assumptions about how we come to know what we know.

Presented in three sections, the exhibition opens with “The Collectors.” Here, artists employ historical systems of categorization with an awareness of the absurdity of their efforts. Some, like Iosu Aramburu and Gala Porras-Kim, create expansive displays of art that expose the gaps in official records. Others use categorization to tease out entirely new narratives; Chang Yuchen, for instance, highlights the connections between language and land by developing a writing system made of corals.

The relationship to land undergirds many of the works in the show, most notably those in “Time and Place.” Shirking Western frameworks altogether, these artists turn to methods of documentation rooted in Indigenous and place-based ways of knowing. Filmmaker Sky Hopinka collapses linear notions of time, drawing upon the land as a keeper of memory, while artists such as Christine Howard Sandoval make tangible the effects of resource extraction.

Where “Time and Place” looks for truth in the physical world, “Fiction and Fact” turns to the imaginary. The works in this section ask us to consider what truths reside beyond the strictly factual and what can be revealed through speculation. Childhood drawings, hypothetical conversations, and social experiments all emerge as vehicles of inquiry.

Spanning drawing, photography, film, and installation, Ways of Knowing charts some of the most profound ways that today’s artists engage with information and research. Most works are being shown in the United States for the first time. Together, they invite us to reconsider the complexities of knowledge, identity, and culture.

Iosu Aramburu, Sammy Baloji, Anna Boghiguian, Cabello/Carceller, Chang Yuchen, Petrit Halilaj, Sky Hopinka, Christine Howard Sandoval, Eduardo Navarro, Gala Porras-Kim, Rose Salane

Content note: This exhibition engages mature themes, including violence.

Sensory note: Videos on view may contain flickering effects or sounds that change in volume or pitch.

Galleries 1 and 3 are accessible via the elevator just outside the galleries. Gallery 2 is accessible via a lift inside the gallery. Our gallery assistants are available on-site to provide wayfinding guidance and answer questions.

For more information or to request additional accommodations, call 612-375-7564 or email access@walkerart.org.

For more information about accessibility at the Walker, visit our Access page.

Rosario Güiraldes, Curator, Visual Arts; with Brandon Eng, Curatorial Assistant, Visual Arts

Find us at 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403.

Paid underground parking is available on-site. Enter the ramp on Vineland Place at Bryant Avenue. Biking or taking Metro Transit? Learn more.

Visiting the galleries? Enhance your experience by joining a public tour or with self-guided resources accessible for free on Bloomberg Connects.

Personal photography is permitted throughout the Walker and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, but please turn off the flash when visiting the galleries.

To help us promote future events and programs, this event may be photographed or recorded. By attending, you consent to appear in this documentation and its future use by the museum. Please let staff know upon arrival if you prefer not to be photographed.
  • Ways of Knowing is organized by the Walker Art Center, with major support from the KHR McNeely Family Foundation, thanks to Kevin, Rosemary, and Hannah Rose McNeely; and the Martin and Brown Foundation.

  • Logo: KHR McNeely Family Foundation
  • Additional support is provided by Lewis Baskerville, and Helen and Peter Warwick. The Walker’s commission of Eduardo Navarro’s Cloud Museum is supported by Lois and John Rogers.

  • The exhibition catalogue is supported by Rosina Lee Yue and a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in support of Walker Art Center publications.