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Member Book Club—Bead Talk with Author Carmen L. Robertson
Member Lecture and Book Club events are available exclusively to Museum Members. Join today!
Join Alexander Brier Marr, associate curator of Native American art, and Carmen L. Robertson, author, professor, and Indigenous art historian, for an exploration of Indigenous storytelling and aesthetics through beadwork.
Appearing virtually, Robertson will join Marr in conversation to explore the language of beadwork and its resonance with works in the Museum’s collection. Drawing from her book Bead Talk: Indigenous Knowledge and Aesthetics from the Flatlands, Robertson reveals how beadwork is far more than decoration—it is a vessel of knowledge, memory, and cultural resilience. Together, she and Marr will consider how artists carry these stories forward, woven and spoken bead by bead, affirming the enduring power of tradition and creativity across generations.
Speaker Information
Carmen Robertson is a Scots Lakota woman with two daughters from in and around the Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan. She is also an Indigenous Art Historian and the Canada Research Chair in North American Indigenous Art and Material Culture at Carleton University.
Book Selection
In Bead Talk, the editors gather conversations, interviews, essays, and full-color reproductions of beadwork from expert and emerging artists, academics, and curators to illustrate the importance of beading in contemporary Indigenous arts. Taken together, the book poses and responds to philosophical questions about beading on the prairies: How do the practices and processes of beading embody reciprocity, respect, and storytelling? How is beading related to Indigenous ways of knowing? How does beading help individuals reconnect with the land? Why do we bead?
This book is available to purchase at the Museum Shop. Members always save 10% on all Museum Shop purchases.
Ticket information
Tickets can be reserved in person or through MetroTix using your Member ticket code. All tickets reserved through MetroTix incur a service charge; the service charge is waived for tickets reserved at the Museum. For your ticket code or more information, visit slam.org/MemberLectures.
What is the Member Lecture Series?
Member Lectures are exclusive, live, in-person events held in the Museum’s Farrell Auditorium. Members enjoy a deeper look at the fascinating changes and ongoing scholarship by the Museum’s curators and researchers. Learn more here.
After Hours Event Entry
This event occurs after the Museum closes to the public at 5 pm. The Museum will reopen for event attendees at 5:30 pm.
Please enter through the East Building entrance or the parking garage at 5:30 pm.
