Since time immemorial indigenous populations throughout Abya Yala, or the Americas, have dug clay and transformed it into vessels for cooking food grown from the same land. Whether a traditional, Mandan stew simmered in a clay pot over an open fire, or masa toasted on a comal in Oaxaca, the relationship between land, clay, and native foods is inextricably linked. Join contemporary indigenous artist, Cannupa Hanska Luger and Asheville-based Xiche chef Luis Martinez for "Conversación en la Cocina : Fuego, Cerámica, y Alimentos Nativos | Conversation in the Kitchen: Fire, Ceramics, and Native Foods." This event includes the opportunity to taste three small Oaxacan appetizer dishes with ingredients from the Appalachian region by chef Martinez and the opportunity to view Luger’s solo exhibition  Mįhą́pmąk, including ceramics, research ephemera, and documentation from the past two years of his ongoing research project to recover his ancestral, Mandan clay traditions.

This event is free, but we recommend a donation of $0 - $15 through the registration.

Limited, complementary event parking will be made available at HomeTrust Bank (10 Woodfin Street Asheville, NC 28801). A parking code will be provided to those who register for the event.

Small Bite Tasting Menu:

• Chochoyotes - GF/VEGAN - Red Corn Masa, Foraged Herbs
• Mulli Tamal - GF/VEGAN - Yellow Corn Masa, Black Ants "Mulli", Squash
• Pipian - GF/VEGAN - Local beans, Pipian Salsa, Sunchoke

We are excited to share three special bites by Chef Luis Martinez with our audience. Please note these are appetizers and not dinner-size portions.

This event is presented in partnership by Center for Craft, Center for Native Health, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and University North Carolina Asheville. Special thanks to HomeTrust Bank for providing parking for tonight’s event.

Cannupa Hanska Luger (b.1979) is a New Mexico based multidisciplinary artist creating monumental installations, sculpture and performance to communicate urgent stories about 21st Century Indigeneity. Incorporating ceramics, steel, fiber, video and repurposed materials, Luger activates speculative fiction, engages in land-based actions of repair and practices empathetic response through social collaboration. Born on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, Luger is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold. Luger’s work has been exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gardiner Museum, Toronto and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Georgia. Luger has been awarded fellowships from Guggenheim, United States Artists, Creative Capital, Smithsonian and Joan Mitchell Foundation.

Luis Martinez was born in Santa Catarina Loxicha, Oaxaca, in a small Zapotec pueblo. He came to the US in 2005. Upon arriving in the US, he worked as a farmworker in Indio, California. After returning to the restaurant industry, Luis worked in several restaurants and cuisines alongside other Oaxacans. These chefs taught Luis how to infuse Oaxacan culture and cuisine into his cooking using various methodologies, from traditional ingredients to Asian techniques. Now based in Asheville, NC, Luis combines his love for cooking with his passion for social justice.

This event is held in conjunction with Mįhą́pmąk, a solo exhibition of 2020 Craft Research Fund Artist Fellow Cannupa Hanska Luger’s ongoing research project to recover his ancestral, Mandan clay traditions. The exhibition title, “Mįhą́pmąk,” translates from Mandan language to “nowadays (in modern times)” and “here we are.” This word is a declaration of presence and resilience. Luger has been conducting site-based research at the Fort Berthold Reservation in what is now known as North Dakota to relearn the clay practices of his ancestors. This exhibition includes ceramics, materials testing, research ephemera, and documentation of Luger’s process, demonstrating the crucial role of the artist-researcher in rebuilding and creating knowledge. Mįhą́pmąk is on view at the Center for Craft through January 28, 2023. For more information on “Mįhą́pmąk,” please visit this page.