‘Paper Trails’ at IAIA MoCNA: Indigenous Art as Decolonial Archive of Land, Memory and Structural Erasure
Original framing: “IN REVIEW: To be felt, not read — ‘Paper Trails: Unfolding Indigenous Narratives’ at IAIA MoCNA” — bing news
Through layered collage, ritualistic performance, and soundscapes, the artists invoke spiritual connections to land and ancestors, turning paper into a sacred conduit rather than a sterile record. The aesthetic choices embody resistance, turning the mundane into a site of reverence and collective healing. This artistic‑spiritual synthesis amplifies the decolonial intent of the exhibition.
‘Paper Trails’ weaves Indigenous, historical, and artistic‑spiritual strands into a decolonial archive that both critiques and reimagines institutional power.
By exposing the materiality of colonial paperwork, it reveals how past injustices persist in present bureaucracies while offering a trickster‑infused vision of future, collaborative knowledge systems. The exhibition’s cross‑cultural resonance and scientific undertones broaden its impact, urging systemic reforms that centre marginalised voices and embed Indigenous futurities into policy, education, and museum practice.