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Item: Tlunh Datsi

Jimmie Durham

1985

Sculpture, 103 x 91 x 81 cm.
Materials: Skull, feathers, turquoise, acrylic paint, shells, wood

Collection: Private Collection, Belgium.

*Tluhn Datsi* was one of the works exhibited in the first show called [*A Matter of Life and Death and Singing*](http://ensembles.mhka.be/events/386), in New York, 1985. In that period Jimmie Durham intentionally used ethnically coded references in his materials and vocabulary. *Tluhn datsi*, meaning “panther” in Cherokee, is made of a puma skull with shells, feathers and fur, resting on a wooden stand that says “POLICE DEPT”. Often asked about the question of identity in his work, Durham has said: “I’m accused, constantly, of making art about my own identity. I never have. I make art about the settler’s identity when I make political art. It’s not about my identity, it’s about the Americans’ identity.” [watch the video bellow]

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The M HKA is a museum for contemporary art, film and visual culture in its widest sense. It is an open place of encounter for art, artists and the public. The M HKA aspires to play a leading role in Flanders and to extend its international profile by building upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition. The M HKA bridges the relationship between artistic questions and wider societal issues, between the international and the regional, artists and public, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation. Central here is the museum's collection with its ongoing acquisitions, as well as related areas of management and research.

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