Raven Chacon: Conductus

Kunstverein Hannover presents “Conductus”, the first solo exhibition in a German-speaking country by Raven Chacon, the Navajo composer and artist awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2022. The exhibition brings together key sculptural works, videos, installations, and two live performances created specifically for the Kunstverein.

Working across sound, performance, sculpture, and notation, Chacon’s practice engages with Indigenous identity, environmental issues, and historical narratives. Influenced by Diné (Navajo) traditions, his work challenges conventional musical structures and the dominance of Western notation.

Among the works on view are For Zitkála-Šá (2017–2020), a series of graphic scores honouring the Yankton Dakota writer; …the sky ladder (2024), created in collaboration with Sámi people; Aviary (2024), a recent sound piece; and Report (2001/2015), a composition for handguns.

Born in 1977 in Fort Defiance, Arizona, Chacon was part of the artist collective Postcommodity and has composed over eighty works. With “Conductus”, Kunstverein Hannover offers an introduction to a practice where sound becomes a space of resistance, memory, and cultural continuity.