22 Jan Walking the Tightrope: The Fowler Museum’s Fire Kinship Exhibition Amidst Devastating Fires
In the wake of the devastating wildfires that have ravaged Southern California, the Fowler Museum’s new exhibition, Fire Kinship: Southern California Native Ecology and Art, arrives at a complex cultural and emotional moment. With its focus on Indigenous fire stewardship and cultural burning practices, the exhibition treads a delicate line—addressing fire as a force of renewal while many in the region are still reeling from loss, displacement, and trauma.
In a poignant letter to the community, Silvia Forni, the museum’s Shirley and Ralph Shapiro Director, acknowledged this tension with sensitivity and care. She expressed solidarity with those grieving and recovering from the fires and gratitude to the firefighters, first responders, and tribal nations working to protect lives and land. Forni’s letter also framed the exhibition’s relevance: “For centuries, Native communities in Southern California have lived in a deep relationship with fire—not as a destructive force, but as a regenerative one.”
This duality—fire as both destructive and regenerative—is at the heart of Fire Kinship. The exhibition intends to illuminate the ancestral knowledge and ecological practices of Indigenous communities, particularly the use of cultural burning to maintain the health of the land. Cultural burning, a practice that predates modern firefighting by millennia, involves small, controlled fires intentionally set to clear underbrush, renew ecosystems, and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. In showcasing this wisdom, the exhibition offers not only a tribute to Indigenous ecological practices but also a potential pathway to a more balanced and sustainable relationship with fire and the land.
The timing of the exhibition, however, is undeniably fraught. Recent wildfires have left behind scorched landscapes and shattered lives, with the word “fire” evoking fear and grief for many in the region. Forni’s letter reflects an acute awareness of this reality: “We understand that in light of the recent wildfires and their aftermath, the word ‘fire’ may evoke fear, loss, and trauma. These emotions and this trauma are paramount and require our collective compassion and care as our communities heal.”
This acknowledgment demonstrates the museum’s intention of creating a space for reflection and healing, rather than simply presenting an academic or aesthetic exploration of fire. By engaging with the exhibition, visitors are invited to honor Indigenous wisdom while grappling with their own complex emotions about fire in the context of both personal and communal loss.
If exhibition’s design and accompanying programs reinforce this intention is yet to be seen. With this exhibition The Fowler Museum will be walking a tightrope with admirable balance. Fire Kinship is now, not just an exhibition; it is a important conversation—one that could bridge past and present, loss and hope, destruction and regeneration. For a region still smoldering from the effects of wildfires, let’s hope it offers a space to grieve, to reflect, and to learn from the deep wisdom of those who have lived in kinship with fire for centuries.
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