Never Spoken Again: Rogue Stories of Science and Collections - On Exhibit at WAM Through May 17

Immature peregrine falcon, taxidermy by John Jarozs. Courtesy of Bell Museum. Photo: Rik Sferra.

What artifacts make their way into modern art collections? What is the backstory – which sometimes includes violence, erasures and just plain coincidence - that the object survived to be viewed today? Colombian curator David Ayala-Alfonso explores this question in the Weisman Art Museum (WAM) exhibit Never Spoken Again: Rogue Stories of Science and Collections, on view until May 17. The exhibit is produced by Independent Curators International and will make you think more than twice about modern art collections, modern art museums, and the origin stories of the artworks.  

That’s a lot to process. So, we asked WAM’s Director of Public Engagement and Learning, Kaitie Covey, for five reasons to visit the Never Spoken Again exhibition. Her reasons are compelling: 

1) Visit the show, and rethink all the museum exhibits you've experienced during your life: Who made those displays, and what was their point of view, their intention in creating them? What sorts of stories are our institutions invested in, and who gets to author them? What kinds of preconceptions are we bringing to a museum visit? (And what happens when those expectations are subverted?)

2) See the provocative gold dies, created by Brazilian artist Felipe Steinberg (one of the Weisman's featured speakers in a panel conversation on April 8), which could be used to print ISIS five-dinar coins. This work asks the viewer to consider the intersection of money and power, and the production of currency as it's linked to sovereignty and influence on the global stage - the machinery that turns ideologies into something tangible and functional.

Above, Felipe Steinberg, In God We Trust, 2013, gold dies of a five dinar coin. Below, Ulrik López, Summon Song I (detail), Mayan screaming vase, 2018-2019. Object replicas, fabricated archeological site, and sound. Courtesy the artist, with support from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.

3) Listen to the eerie call of ceramic heads, similar to those unearthed in archaeological digs of the early 20th century and displayed in museums around the world, and hear their voices restored. 

4) See a perfectly preserved peregrine falcon (on loan from the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum), and learn about its surprising origins. 

5) Experience in this show precisely what makes the Weisman a distinctive place in the Twin Cities arts scene: As an academic art museum, the Weisman is uniquely positioned to hold conversations like those prompted by Never Spoken Again - where art, research, science, and critical thinking intersect. We’re not just presenting objects; we’re testing ideas together. And we’re also teaching. Every day we’re working with students - future curators, educators, scientists, artists, and museum practitioners - helping them learn how to question inherited narratives, how to care ethically for collections, and how to build institutions that are more reflective, inclusive, and accountable than the ones we inherited.

Plan your visit to WAM before the exhibition leaves in May. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday. Hours are Wednesday to Friday 10 to 5 and 11 to 5 on Saturday and Sunday.

Reyes Santiago Rojas, Sugar Crush no. 1 (detail), 2019. Mixed-media installation. Courtesy the artist.