On March 27, the Trump administration issued an executive order called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The order alleged a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our nation’s history.” In the administration’s framing, there is a subversive movement underway to undermine America’s legacy as “racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”
To support its claim, the order cites, among other things, an exhibition at the Smithsonian called “The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture.”
According to the Smithsonian’s website, the show, which is on view until September of this year, explores the ways that sculpture has shaped the way generations have learned to visualize and think about race.
Nicholas Galanin, an Indigenous sculptor whose work appears in the show, joined The Show to discuss the piece, which is called “The Imaginary Indian Totem Pole.”
