The Akron Art Museum is presenting “Kent Monkman: History Is Painted by the Victors,” a comprehensive survey of the internationally recognized Cree artist’s work, from April 11 through August 17, 2026. Akron is the sole Midwest venue on the touring exhibition’s itinerary, making it the only opportunity for Ohio audiences to see the show in the region.

The exhibition, organized jointly by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Denver Art Museum, features monumental paintings that use allegory and visual storytelling to examine colonial history and its ongoing legacies. Works address the climate crisis, government policies affecting Indigenous communities, intergenerational trauma, and celebrations of Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous identities. The show includes loans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art alongside works from private collections.

Monkman, born in 1965 and a member of Fisher River Cree Nation in Treaty 5 Territory, Manitoba, works across painting, film, video, performance, and installation. He is widely known for his alter ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, a gender-fluid figure who disrupts and reclaims art historical conventions. The exhibition was curated by Léuli Eshrāghi, Indigenous Practices Curator at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and John Lukavic, Native Arts Curator at the Denver Art Museum. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., with extended Thursday hours until 9 p.m. General adult admission is $12; admission is free on Thursdays and for members.

Source: Akron Art Museum