Mαwte: Bound Together

Initiated by guest curator and Penobscot basketmaker Sarah Sockbeson, this exhibition of contemporary Wabanaki art centers Indigenized methodologies and artistic expression.

Colby Museum of Art

Joan Dignam Schmaltz Gallery of Art at the Paul J. Schupf Art Center

Exhibition design by:
Brian Johnson (Monacan) with Joshua Whitehead (Choctaw Nation) and Emma Waggoner (Cherokee Nation)

Mαwte: Bound Together connects contemporary Wabanaki artists in an exhibition initiated by guest curator and Penobscot basketmaker Sarah Sockbeson. The Penobscot word mαwte (mαw tteh) means “it is together.” Ideas of togetherness and interconnection guide both the artworks themselves and the curatorial process.

Sockbeson and a core group of invited artists reimagine exhibition making by modeling collective storytelling, while challenging simplified views of Indigenous aesthetics. Through shared conversations, the artists shaped the exhibition around binding and rebinding, environment and place, and Indigenous-led expression.

Gallery wall display of paintings and a text panel about the Kennebec River in a museum setting.