Kiliii Yuyan, Rumors of Arctic Belonging

September 3–27, 2020*

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*Starting on August 15th, Blue Sky will be open Wednesday—Saturday from 12PM – 5PM with priority given to visitors who make an appointment online.  Visits are limited to one hour. Reserve your appointment now at blueskygallery.org/appointments

In his exhibition, Rumors of Arctic Belonging, Kiliii Yuyan will present a selection of his photographs taken throughout the Arctic, where the climate and the landscape are radically changing and those who call the region home continue to adapt. A Native Siberian, Yuyan reflects upon his role as both insider and outsider as he documents current traditions while looking towards the Arctic’s future. He writes, “A future North awaits– not cold and unchanging, but living, dying and being reborn. Everyday memories of the Arctic will pass forward as they always have, kept by its Indigenous peoples and hidden in plain sight.”

Kiliii Yuyan is a photographer based out of Seattle, but he can be found across the circumpolar Arctic much of the year. Informed by ancestry that is both Nanai/Hèzhé (Siberian Native) and Chinese-American, he explores the human relationship to the natural world from different cultural perspectives. Yuyan is a 2020 NiaTero Storytelling fellow, Pulitzer Center grantee, and one of PDN’s 30 Emerging Photographers (2019), as well as an award-winning contributor to National Geographic Magazine and other major publications. Yuyan’s public talks inspire others about photography, Indigenous perspectives and wilderness around the globe. He also builds traditional kayaks and contributes to the revitalization of northern Indigenous culture.