Experience ENCODED: Change the Story, Change the Future at the MET

An Indigenous Augmented Reality Takeover of the American Wing. On view until December 31, 2025.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 17, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Amplifier, a nonprofit design lab that builds art and media campaigns to shift culture and amplify movements, unveiled ENCODED: Change the Story, Change the Future, a first-of-its-kind unsanctioned Indigenous art intervention within the American Wing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Launched on Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2025 (October 13), this augmented reality (AR) installation transforms the American Wing into a space where Indigenous presence, creativity, and stories take center stage. Funded by an anonymous Indigenous donor and co-curated by Tracy Renée Rector in collaboration with Amplifier, ENCODED features the work of seventeen Indigenous artists living across Turtle Island, also known as North America. Using augmented reality and immersive sound, these works engage directly with the museum’s permanent collection of paintings and sculptures, reclaiming space, expanding narratives, and opening conversations as the American Wing marks its 100th anniversary. ENCODED is accessible both inside of the MET galleries or anywhere in the world through the ENCODED website, October 13 - December 31, 2025.


ENCODED features works by Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Bear Fox, Bird x Bird, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Cass Gardiner, Demian DinéYazhi’, Jarrette Werk, Jeremy Dennis, Josué Rivas, Katsitsionni Fox, Lokotah Sanborn, Mali Obomsawin, Mer Young, Nicholas Galanin, Priscilla Dobler Dzul, Flechas, and Skawennati, each engaging the collection with their unique vision and voice. ENCODED is a celebration: an invitation to join a ceremonial act of remembering and reimagining. Through 3D digital technologies, the exhibition challenges past propaganda embedded in American art history to open space for dialogue about truth, history, and representation today.

"The works that I'm presenting are an intervention on a narrative that American art, and the American art canon, has maintained, which is that the landscape of North America was void of population," states artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. "When I see these works dance across these landscapes, I think of history being a narrative that's frozen in time, and culture being something that's alive and continues, and their dancing is a symbolic representation of a culture that thrives and survives the static aspect of history. Having them move on these static paintings, I think, reinforces the idea of our survivants and our continued existence under the oppressive weight of being omitted from history."

“As a multicultural team committed to uplifting artists and marginalized peoples, we honor the power and beauty of coming together in solidarity. In this spirit, we worked hard to expand the narratives of these lands and uplift the voices of the first inhabitants of this continent. We believe that everyone benefits from truth in history, the sharing of diverse perspectives, and the flourishing of cultural sovereignty,” said Tracy Renée Rector, co-curator.

ENCODED is not a protest, or a spectacle; it is a celebration and a reassertion of Indigenous presence in one of the grandest stages of American art and history. Audiences are invited to scan the QR code, to access a self-guided digital exhibition of historic paintings and sculptures reframed by Indigenous counter-narratives, an overlay that does not erase but expands, asking whose stories are told in America’s cultural institutions, and how they change when Indigenous artists take over the frame.

ENCODED will be hosting guided tours on the following dates. RSVP in the following Link. Registration is required.

Saturday, November 22 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Saturday, November 29 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Thursday, December 4 11:00 AM - 12:30PM
Thursday, December 4 2:00 - 3:30PM
Friday, December 5 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Saturday, December 6 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Saturday, December 6 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Saturday, December 13 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM


ABOUT AMPLIFIER
Amplifier is a nonprofit media lab dedicated to building campaigns that amplify the most important movements of our time, by any medium necessary. We design and distribute art that engages people in shaping a more just, inclusive, and sustainable future.

Through bold visual storytelling and strategic distribution, we shift culture and change national narratives. Since 2015, Amplifier has commissioned over 400 artists and distributed millions of artworks—reaching activists, educators, policymakers, and students across the country. By blending analog and digital media, Amplifier turns artists into activists and observers into participants.

Each campaign is a compass toward justice, equality, and truth— reclaiming an American identity rooted in dignity and diversity. Amplifier’s campaigns reach over 20 million viewers on average. Join us in building a more just and beautiful future. @amplifierart | amplifier.org

ABOUT CO-CURATOR TRACY RENÉE RECTOR
Tracy Rector is a mixed-heritage filmmaker, curator, and community organizer rooted in Turtle Island. For nearly forty years, she has collaborated on over 500 films and projects amplifying the voices of Indigenous, Black, Communities of Color, and Queer peoples. Her work has screened on Independent Lens, PBS, National Geographic, and ImagineNative, and at festivals including Sundance, Cannes, and Toronto. Beyond film, Tracy has served as a Seattle Arts Commissioner and holds leadership roles with Working Films, Multitude Films, and the Harvard Kennedy School Advisory Council. She is co-director of 4th World Media, dedicated to justice, culture, and collective creativity.

Olivia McAuley
TogetherWith
email us here
Visit us on social media:
Instagram
Facebook

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.