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WILMINGTON, Del. — About 400 years ago, the first Europeans began exploring land now known as Delaware.
As they journeyed through the region, their travels brought them face to face with the people who had lived there for millennia – the Lenni Lenape, the father tribe of the Lenape and Nanticoke Indians.
The Delaware Art Museum’s recently debuted exhibit, “In Conversation: Will Wilson,” works to forge a new relationship with Indigenous people by bringing visitors face to face with them through stories of Native people, 19th-century photography and augmented reality technology for an immersive experience that connects the past with the present.
In about a year and a half from idea to execution, the exhibition came together in whirlwind timing for show planning. Not only did the museum need to secure the artist’s availability, but they also needed to develop a relationship with Delaware’s Native population − some of the very people the artist would feature in his photos.
Building trust with sincere intention
The Delaware Art Museum exhibit showcases the photography of Will Wilson, a New Mexico-based Diné (Navajo) photographer whose work centers on Native American identity and culture.
Commissioning Will Wilson’s participation and arranging the logistics took effort, but the bulk of the endeavor came with establishing trust and relationships with Delaware’s Native American community.
Called Lenapehoking, the original homeland of the Lenape and Nanticoke encompassed present-day New Jersey, most of Delaware and eastern New York and Pennsylvania.
Iz Balleto, a community engagement specialist at the Delaware Art Museum, said due to past misrepresentation and exploitation, the Native community was not particularly interested in being involved in this project – earning their trust would be a process.
That process started with the tribal chiefs of the Delaware Lenape and Nanticoke first.
He said that after he and the museum committee were able to establish a…
