Scaffold (sculpture)
Artist: Sam Durant
Year: 2017
Date of Action: June 2017
Region: North America
Location: Walker Art Center
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Sculpture
Confronting Bodies: Dakota Elders, Walker Art Center
Description of Artwork: Not provided yet.
The Incident: Protestors began gathering outside the museum on May 26th, 2017 and remained all weekend. Much of the native community was extremely offended and upset by the artwork and were very vocal about it. One protestor said that "it truly saddens me that in 2017, we still live in a world where the intergenerational trauma of a people can be put on display for the world to see without any consequences." Many offended viewers of the art commented that the "legacy of the white, male monopoly over the historiography of the Dakota War lives on."
Results of Incident: After much outcry and dissent from the public and the Dakota Elders, the artist apologized for how the work was received by the natives of Minnesota. Given the pain which the sculpture caused the community, the Walker and Durant agreed to remove the work. The art center allowed the piece to be dismantled and the Dakota Nation will meet and decide what to do with the materials of the sculpture.
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