Index Magazine

Devour the Land: An Introduction

September 29, 2021
Index Magazine

Devour the Land: An Introduction

A blue-saturated photograph of a desert landscape at night with a winding road in the foreground and mountains in the background. A blue-saturated photograph of a desert landscape at night with a winding road in the foreground and mountains in the background. In large white letters at the top are the words “Devour the Land” and text at the bottom reads “War and American Landscape Photography since 1970” and “September 17, 2021–¬January 16, 2022.”
Sim Chi Yin, Singaporean, Mountain range surrounding the Nevada Test Site, from the series Most People Were Silent, November 2017. Archival pigment print. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Richard and Ronay Menschel Fund for the Acquisition of Photographs, 2020.181. © Sim Chi Yin; image courtesy of the artist.

Curator Makeda Best, alongside commentary from photographers Nina Berman, Sharon Stewart, and Robert Del Tredici, provides a brief introduction to our new special exhibition, Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970. Featuring approximately 160 photographs from 60 artists, the exhibition invites you to explore the impacts of military activity on the American landscape—and how photography supports activism in response to these effects. 

Make your reservation to visit the Harvard Art Museums today.

Related articles

A three-image montage shows a red rug with colorful designs; a brown rubbing of a gravestone with text and an angel; and a painting of a dark-skinned man in a white shirt leaning against a carved door frame.

Collections in Motion: What’s New on View

Our galleries are ever-changing, with new installations occurring each month throughout the museums. This fall, we’re welcoming rarely seen works of art into our galleries and celebrating diverse materials and styles. 

Four students, with their backs to the camera, look at a large rectangular photograph of an older woman in a yellow coat, walking across a city street.

Fostering Museum Literacy and Museum-Going Identity at the Harvard Art Museums

Two staff members from our Division of Academic and Public Programs discuss how the museums foster museum literacy and a sense of welcome among student visitors.

A woman in a white shawl standing next to a drawing displayed within a glass case.

Artworks in Honor of Director Martha Tedeschi’s Tenure

Upon director Martha Tedeschi’s departure after eight years of leadership, gifts of art were made in her honor.