The Active Historian

Hey, friend! Welcome back to another post. Today, I want to tell you about an exhibition currently on display at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Preston Singletary’s “Raven and the Box of Daylight” explores the story of Raven who is central to many creation stories. Singletary used glass in this exhibition to illustrate Raven’s shapeshifting abilities. The story of “Raven and the Box of Daylight” has been passed down for many generations and follows the journey of Raven to release the sun, moon and stars.

It is important to note there are dozens of stories about Raven told throughout the Pacific Northwest. Five versions of this story were utilized in this exhibition.

Let’s go look around!

*All photos were taken at the OKC MOA by myself.

This exhibition combines sounds, lights and more to make this an interactive experience. Several of the panels have QR codes you can scan for more information. I really loved that the panels were numbered throughout the exhibition which made following the story very easy.

Raven

The Raven figure makes several appearances throughout the exhibit.

Three Boxes

According to Tlingit stories, three boxes contained the sun, moon and stars. The Raven asked his grandfather for the stars, but he said no. Raven began crying and his grandfather gave him the box of stars. He opened the box and the stars escaped to the sky. His grandfather scolded him, but he cried and his grandfather forgave him. His grandfather gave him the box with the moon after he moved toward it. Raven’s mother did not think he needed the box with the moon. While Raven’s mother and grandfather were arguing, he opened the box with the moon and it escaped to the sky. Raven wound up releasing the sun into the sky as well. The world was then filled with light.

Raven tried to escape and his feet were caught. While he was in the smoke hole, he was covered in black soot from the fire. His color was representative of the sacrifice he made in bringing light to the world.

Other Pieces in the Exhibition

There were several other pieces in the exhibition. I have included a few photos, but this isn’t everything else you can see!

Concluding Thoughts

I really enjoyed this exhibition and am grateful the OKC MOA brought it to Oklahoma City! “Raven and the Box of Daylight” be on display through April 28, 2024. Make sure to go check it out!

Happy traveling! I’ll talk to ya soon! 🙂

Sources

“Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight” – OKC MOA