Overview
Reverberations: Roots of the Cedar Tree brought together Stephen Alvarez鈥檚 Ancient Art Archive photographs of petroglyphs and pictographs from sites across North America and Europe鈥攕ome dating back as far as 35,000 years鈥攚ith contemporary paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works by Chickasaw artist Dustin Mater.
The show created a dialogue between 鈥渄eep-time鈥� human expression and living Indigenous creativity, inviting viewers to experience how ancient images echo across millennia and continue to resonate in present-day cultural identity. The title references the cedar tree as an axis mundi in Mississippian-descended tribal traditions, symbolizing a connection between worlds and emphasizing the exhibition鈥檚 theme of continuity and rootedness.
Through this pairing of ancient imagery and contemporary Indigenous art, the Curb Center framed artistic expression as a mode of inquiry and a celebration of the human spirit, presenting ancestral rock art not as relics but as part of a living heritage.
The exhibition was on view from September 13 to December 1, 2023, with public gallery hours Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
天美传媒官网 the Artist
Stephen Alvarez
National Geographic Explorer and photographer Stephen Alvarez has spent his life documenting the world. An award-winning photographer and filmmaker, he produces global stories about exploration, culture, and archeology. Alvarez has published over a dozen feature stories in聽National Geographic Magazine, taking readers from the highest peaks in the Andes to the deepest cave in the world, to the tunnels of underground Paris to the islands of the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to聽National Geographic, his work has been featured in聽Time Magazine,听The Nature Conservancy, and the聽New York Times. He has appeared on NPR, PBS, and CBS Saturday Morning, was a Microsoft Brand Ambassador, and has awed audiences from the Banff Mountain Center to National Geographic Live! Alvarez has been a guest on a number of podcasts including聽. He has hosted travel for Lindblad Expeditions and NG Travel including the Shackleton Anniversary Expedition to Antarctica, and a world jet tour.
贬颈蝉听National Geographic聽story on the origins of art led him from early human sites on the southern coast of Africa to Paleolithic art caves in France and Spain. After experiencing the 36,000 year old cave art of Chauvet, he said, 鈥淭ime collapsed and I felt the artist speaking straight to me across an unimaginable gulf of time.鈥�
In 2016, Alvarez founded the聽, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and sharing rock and cave art鈥攈umanity鈥檚 oldest stories.聽 贬颈蝉听National Geographic聽story on North American rock art is produced in partnership with members of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Ute, Navajo and Shawnee tribes. The story appears in the聽 May 2024 edition of聽NGM.
Stephen lives with his family in Sewanee, Tennessee.