The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago's exhibition, The Way of the Shovel: Art as Archaeology, was organized by Manilow Senior Curator Dieter Roelstraete. Spurred by Roelstraete's 2009 essay, The Way of the Shovel: On the Archaeological Imaginary in Art, in the online journal, e-flux, the exhibition presents the work of 34 artists from eleven countries.

From the exhibition brochure:
The Way of the Shovel: Art as Archaeology explores the role of historical research in art of the last decade, using archaeology as a metaphor for the various ways artists look closely at the past.

Although concentrated most heavily in Europe, this practice has grown to a broader, international and inter-generational scope. The thirty-four artists represented in this show share an interest in studying the past - in digging it up, so to speak. Some of them literally dig for material traces, while others comb through archives and conduct other types of research, translating their findings into photographs, films, sculptures, installations, and other forms. In many cases, the artworks become a means to reevaluate historical events or present unwritten histories, often infused with politics, memory, or questions of truthfulness.

The artists in the exhibition:
Pamela Bannos
Lene Berg
Derek Brunen
Mariana Castillo Deball
Phil Collins
Moyra Davey
Tacita Dean
Mark Dion
Stan Douglas
LaToya Ruby Frazier
Cyprien Gaillard
Raphael Grisey
Scott Hocking
Rebecca Keller
Daniel Knorr
Joachim Koester
Aleksander Komarov
Susanne Kriemann
Jason Lazarus
Jean-Luc Moulene
Deimantas Narkevicius
Sophie Nys
Gabriel Orozco
Michael Rakowitz
Steve Rowell
Anri Sala
David Schutter
Simon Starling
Hito Steyerl
Tony Tasset
Zin Taylor
Shellburne Thurber
Ana Torfs
Siebren Versteeg