I had planned a post about all the water birds I saw on my southern sojourn. But: a quick change in plans to persuade you to visit the SW Indian Art Festival at the
Smoki Museum grounds tomorrow. It's a good show, well worth your time. As you can see below, I spent some time enjoying myself. And, of course, taking pictures; fortunately, most of the artists were quite happy to let me photograph their work.
There were few scuptures; this horse is by Beje Whitethorne Sr.
I found the paintings excellent -- and great fun, many of them; others were quite mysterious.
One artist exhibited a big collection of very small Hopi katsinas.
Hopi glassware (above) and ceramics, including the traditional Mudhead (below). This katsina is a clown who may be seen in most Hopi ceremonies.
Mudhead Katsinas drum, dance, play games with the audience, and may act as announcers for events.
A jangle of bells announced that a troupe of dancers was ready to perform. Unfortunately, I was present only for one of the five different performances today. More are scheduled for tomorrow, beginning at 11 A.M.
Don't those great coats look comfy and wonderful for next year's winter? They are made from classic Indian blankets.
As with almost every show, some artists also offered Tshirts, great for cheapskates like me who would love to buy several of the paintings on display but frankly can't afford them. For further info, go to
NDN Gear (above) or
Ryan Singer (below) to check out the lines.
Because I had already bought the official Tshirt, I didn't have room to carry any more. However, now I have a piece of art by the director of the Smoki Museum, Ryan Huna Smith. If you would like to look at more Indian artwork, here are some web sites of artists who exhibited:
Baje Whitethorne Sr ...
Kevin Quannie ...
Landis Bahe ...
Ryan Singer ...
Virgil Nez
There were few scuptures; this horse is by Beje Whitethorne Sr.
I found the paintings excellent -- and great fun, many of them; others were quite mysterious.
One artist exhibited a big collection of very small Hopi katsinas.
Hopi glassware (above) and ceramics, including the traditional Mudhead (below). This katsina is a clown who may be seen in most Hopi ceremonies. Mudhead Katsinas drum, dance, play games with the audience, and may act as announcers for events.
A jangle of bells announced that a troupe of dancers was ready to perform. Unfortunately, I was present only for one of the five different performances today. More are scheduled for tomorrow, beginning at 11 A.M.
Don't those great coats look comfy and wonderful for next year's winter? They are made from classic Indian blankets.
As with almost every show, some artists also offered Tshirts, great for cheapskates like me who would love to buy several of the paintings on display but frankly can't afford them. For further info, go to NDN Gear (above) or Ryan Singer (below) to check out the lines.
Because I had already bought the official Tshirt, I didn't have room to carry any more. However, now I have a piece of art by the director of the Smoki Museum, Ryan Huna Smith. If you would like to look at more Indian artwork, here are some web sites of artists who exhibited: Baje Whitethorne Sr ... Kevin Quannie ... Landis Bahe ... Ryan Singer ... Virgil Nez
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11 comments:
Aboriginal art has become a big thing here in Oz and there are centres run by indigonees. As with anything that becomes popular, prices rise and mass production also occurs the quality of the latter being less than optimum.
Hermano
It's been forever and a day since I've been to the Smoki museum. Thanks for sharing some of the artwork.
Bro -- same here. It started with the Navajo rugs; Mexican tribes started to compete at much lower prices, tho quite frankly, many of their rugs are lovely. Besides, in this particular case, just what is a "Native American"? And, of course, many of our so-called katsina dolls are now being made by Navajo artists!
qd -- unfortunately, this was an outdoor show; I doubt that few, if any, of the works I saw are on display in the museum.
That horse is wonderful. Not so keen on most of the paintings, though.
Great post, GJ. I especially love the t-shirt of Mutton Stew with the Campbell's label. LOL
I'll be in Prescott in about 6 weeks, yay!
~Anon in AV.
stitch -- the author of the horse sculpt had a couple of others that were also good. As for the paintings, what I like is that humor and irony is entering the arena, which for too long was full of a romanticized past.
anon av -- sounds like you are coming for rodeo...
I am coming for both the parade and the rodeo!
Oh, I forgot to mention that your photos of the dancers looked like the Apache Crown dancers.
I saw some dance up in Globe, AZ, at the harvest festival. They really made the crowd smile.
~Anon in AV.
anon av -- right you are! They were on the program, but I couldn't tell from the timing which group they were. Thank you.
Granny J, Great coverage of the Smoki show. Too bad the local press doesn't have you on their staff!
Cat-A -- It looks like the Courier opted for the ham fest instead of the Smoki fete. I might have, too, if I'd known -- gear also makes great pictures.
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