Beyond the Curve – Special Exhibit

Beyond The Curve Special Exhibit will be showing from now through  JANUARY 23, 2024 at the University of Vermont Medical Center.

Curatorial statement:
“In March 2020, the world stood still as businesses and schools around the world closed in response to the global pandemic. Broadcast media, health, and government officials repeated the daily mantra “Flatten the Curve.” Resources became scarce, exposing health disparities and access issues that Native American families face across North America. Here in N’Dakinna (our homeland) Abenaki families turned to traditional medicines and other cultural practices for comfort and survival, connecting with nature and small family groups.

Throughout the dark times that followed, Abenaki and other Native American artists, musicians, and community members expressed the impact of the pandemic on ourselves and our community through storytelling, visual arts, and writing. Our stories of personal experience and perceptions about the disparities, access issues, and historical traumas that contribute to vaccine hesitation are also stories of recovery, survival, and resilience.

The stories and artwork in this exhibit were gathered by the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association through the Abenaki Storytelling Project to create an auto-history of the Native American community in Vermont and the surrounding environs.

Many of the storytellers, artists, and community members who contributed to this body of work found that sharing helped them process their grief. This exhibition goes beyond Beyond the Curve: the Abenaki COVID Experience differences to speak of experiences that are universal. Together, we move Beyond the Curve.”