These are exciting times for Indigenous art and artists around the world. After being relegated to the shadows of the art world for far too long, Indigenous art is being widely recognized as one of the most compelling contemporary art movements of the past century. The world is taking notice, as evidenced by the fact that The Metropolitan Museum of Art recently acquired 16 new works of contemporary Aboriginal Australian art. The University of Virginia continues to play a major role in this global ascendancy through the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, The Fralin Museum of Art, and the Mellon Indigenous Arts Initiative, which recently committed $815,000 to support the collaborative effort of both institutions. Last February, the University furthered its leadership in the space by hosting a symposium that brought together some of the leading artists, curators, and scholars to examine critical issues in Indigenous art today, including: How do Indigenous attitudes towards material objects offer new ways for considering the institutions that contain them? What role can museum collections play in revitalized Indigenous practices, and how can these institutions be active participants in the process of decolonization? How can these imperial containers of objects become active tools in the re-imagining of Indigenous pasts, presents and futures? The symposium was opened by Karenne Wood, director of the Virginia Indian Programs for the Virginia Humanities, and moderated by Henry Skerritt, Curator, Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia. Speakers included Julie Adams, Curator of Oceania, The British Museum; Christine DeLisle, Assistant Professor, Department of American Studies, University of Minnesota; Taloi Havini, Artist, Bougainville; Carol McGregor, Artist, Waithaurang/Australia; Maia Nuku, Evelyn A. J. Hall; and John A. Friede Associate Curator for Oceanic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Visesio Siasau, Artist, Tonga. “This symposium was about making people recognize that Australia seems like a very distant place for many people, and they are surprised that UVA has a world class collection of Aboriginal Australian art,” Skerritt said. “By bringing in scholars from the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and bringing in artists from Bougainville and Tonga and Australia, we are taking part in a global dialogue that is making people recognize the vital insights that Indigenous peoples have to offer, not just in the arts, but in every sphere of human thought and endeavor.” Events such as this one, Skerritt added, also highlight UVA’s unique position at the center of this emerging field. “Across many disciplines from history to anthropology to art history and music, there are scholars who are leading the way in making UVA a center for excellence for Indigenous studies, so for us to host a symposium like this one really allows us to asset ourselves as a global center for excellence in Indigenous studies, and puts us in the middle of an important movement in international contemporary art in a very profound way.”