Biography
Alaka Wali is curator of North American Anthropology in the Science and Education Division of The Field Museum. She was the founding director of the Center for Cultural Understanding and Change from 1995-2010. During that time, she pioneered the development of participatory social science research and community engagement processes based in museum science. She currently curates the North American collection and is leading the curational team working on renovating the Native North American Hall. She has also engaged contemporary Native American artists to collaborate on curation of experimental exhibitions at the Field Museum that incorporate contemporary art with historical items from the Museum's collection. Her research focuses on the relationship between art and the capacity for social resilience. Alaka was born in India and maintains strong ties to her birth homeland.