Keeping Our Dress Alive (2025)
By Carter King
Keeping Our Dress Alive is an exhibit in partial fulfillment of the M.A. in Oral History for Carter S. King. In using reproduction historical Haudenosaunee dress, the exhibit explores the process of making through installations and muslins on mannequins. The audience is also guided and framed by four separate audio installations; two from the Oneida Hymn Singers and two sounds of process. This exhibit explores how historical dress is an important memory and maker in Haudenosaunee territory.
On May 3rd, Keeping Our Dress Alive will go live at Gallery MC on 549 West 52nd Street. This collaborative exhibit features historic Haudenosaunee—otherwise known as the Iroquois or Six Nations—dress from the late 19th Century, as well as a series of material installations detailing the reproduction of the exhibited dress from a process-oriented perspective. Audio from historic archival Oneida Hymn Singers, as well as edited audio from the construction of the dress, explore the labor and continuity of Haudenosaunee clothing tradition and history. Join us for the evening to learn from and appreciate indigenous history and material culture, as well as engage with the beauty of sewing and garment making.