Portfolio > Programming

As part of the exhibition Quasi-Heartland, CAM commissioned Haegue Yang to create Mound Vehicles, which was inspired by the artist’s visit to Cahokia in 2024 and engages the St. Louis region’s precolonial history and the Mississippi River landscape. This room-sized installation features multiple sets of custom Venetian blinds—Yang’s signature medium—in blue and green hues, as well as casters and handles that allow the work to be “activated” and brought to life by facilitators who enact a series of choreographed movements to mobilize the sculpture.

This program links our contemporary moment, Yang’s Mound Vehicles, and the historic civilizations of Mississippian mound builders through a conversation hosted by exhibition curator Misa Jeffereis and Dr. Angela Cooper, Site Services Specialist II for Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. The discussion will center concepts related to Cahokia and Mound Vehicles, including pilgrimage and procession, how contemporary forms of expression connect with histories of our human relationship with the land, and the importance of Indigenous experiences and perspectives.

The evening also includes a pop-up shop highlighting Indigenous artists and cultural stewards based in St. Louis, as well as those whose relationships with the surrounding lands and waters predate and transcend colonial borders. Featured contributors include Lydia Cheshewalla, Kassie Kussman, Veronica Pipestem, Rico Rose, and Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.