Blanket (Detail) c. 1936

Editor: This is a detail from a blanket design, circa 1936, by Alfred Denghausen. It's done in colored pencil, and I'm really drawn to its geometric elements and the almost meditative quality of the radiating lines. How do you interpret this work? Curator: I see a fascinating interplay between design and cultural identity. Think about the 1930s – what communities might have been creating and relying on such designs, and what stories might be interwoven into the very act of creation? Does this blanket represent a commercial endeavor, a familial tradition, or something more politically charged? Editor: I hadn't considered that it could be politically charged. Is that related to its geometric structure? Curator: The geometry certainly lends itself to that interpretation, given how abstract geometric forms have been deployed across various Indigenous visual languages. Does this formal language borrow or connect? For whom does the blanket become a signifier, a statement, and a site of resistance or reclamation? What’s your sense of its historical context impacting our view today? Editor: I suppose now I am questioning my initial interpretation as simply a meditative geometric study and thinking more deeply about what identity the blanket might perform. The medium feels telling, doesn't it? Colored pencil seems so accessible... Curator: Exactly. Who has access, who has agency, who gets to represent whom? This work sits at the intersection of material culture, identity, and artistic expression. Consider the act of "blanketing" someone in meaning, or even erasing meaning through cultural appropriation. Editor: That makes me look at this simple blanket design so differently. Thank you! Curator: It’s a privilege to unpack these complexities with you. These conversations are vital.