The Artist as Social Engineer
An Art, Technology, & Culture Colloquium lecture, presented as part of BCNM's Indigenous Technologies program, curated by Indigenous Technologies Coordinator Talia Dixon, co-sponsored by the Environmental Arts and Humanities Initiative, the Art Practice Department, the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, and the Graduate Students of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies
with Cannupa Hanska Luger
Multidisciplinary Artist and Cultural Innovator
-
Monday, April 5, 2027
5:00 — 6:30 PM
Eugene Jarvis Auditorium,
Grimes Engineering Center
RSVP here! Save the event to your bCal here!
-
Tuesday, April 6, 2027
4:30 — 6:30 PM
Workshop with Cannupa Hanska Luger, for UC Berkeley students and community members
Apply here!
-
Artist and author Cannupa Hanska Luger will discuss how his interdisciplinary practice functions as a form of social engineering, developing new methodologies and speculative approaches that reflect Indigenous innovation. He will explore how storytelling, community engagement, and land-based practice inform his work, offering new ways of understanding identity, responsibility, and our shared humanity.
Workshop Opportunity
Cannupa Hanska Luger will also host a hands-on workshop for UC Berkeley students and community members, expanding on the content of his talk, the following afternoon, Tuesday, April 6, from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, at Platform Artspace. Participation is limited to 50 people, and requires completion of this brief application. Selected participants will be notified approximately one week prior to the workshop.
About Cannupa Hanska Luger
Cannupa Hanska Luger is an award-winning artist and cultural innovator whose expansive creative and philosophical practice introduces new methodologies, ideas, and speculative technologies that reflect Indigenous innovation and shift collective thinking.
Born on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota, Luger is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara) and Lakota. His bold visual storytelling offers new ways of seeing our shared humanity while centering an Indigenous worldview.
With a socially engaged, interdisciplinary practice spanning public art, large-scale installation, ceramic sculpture, performance, time-based media, writing, and land-based actions of repair, Luger’s work blends critical cultural analysis with Indigenous advocacy and deep respect for the diverse materials, landscapes, and communities he engages.
About Indigenous Technologies
Indigenous Technologies is a program of BCNM that engages questions of technology and new media in relation to global structures of indigeneity, settler colonialism, and genocide in the 21st century. Our Indigenous Tech events and ongoing conversations with Indigenous scholars and communities aim to critically envision and reimagine what a more just and sustainable technological future can look like. We highlight Indigenous engagements with robotics, computer science, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, social media, online activism, video games, and more.
Accessibility
BCNM events are free and open to the public. This event will be held in-person, on the UC Berkeley campus. We strive to meet all access and accommodation needs. Please contact (raphaelcohen [at] berkeley.edu) with requests or questions.
BCNM is proud to make conversations with leading scholars, artists, and technologists freely available to the public. Please help us continue this tradition by making a tax-deductible donation today. If you are in the position to support the program, we suggest $5 per event, or $100 a year.