: A landmark exhibition of more than 500 pieces of contemporary and
historic Native American jewelry and artifacts, "Totems to
Turquoise: Native North American Jewelry Arts of the Northwest
and Southwest" celebrates the beauty, power and symbolism of
modern Native jewelry arts.
The exhibition, which opens on October 30 and runs through July
10, honors a rich, complex and diverse art form, the foundations
of which lie in thousands of years of culture and experience.
"Totems to Turquoise" contains more than 100 objects from the
museum's collection of Native American artifacts, and also
presents recent totem sculptures, traditional and modern masks,
and photographs and videos of Northwest Coast and Southwest
rituals that are strongly connected with the cosmological beliefs
of each tribe.
"Totems to Turquoise" showcases artwork from the North-west
Haida, Kwakwaka'wakw, Tsimshian, Gitxsan, Nisga'a, Tlingit,
Heiltsuk, Nuu-chah-nulth, Nuxalk, Haisla and Coast Salish tribes,
and the Southwest Navajo, Zuni, Hopi, Santo Domingo, Taos, other
Pueblos, and Apache.
"Totems to Turquoise" is divided into four sections. The
Introductory Gallery has groupings of jewelry and objects that
introduce key themes in the exhibition: cultural continuity from
ancient to modern, distinct regional styles, jewelry as portable
symbolic art, motifs transferred to jewelry from other art forms
such as masks and blankets, and how artists today are both
drawing upon and departing from tradition.
Visitors are introduced to various tribes living on the marine
Northwest Coast and in the desert Southwest through a five-minute
video that explores the differences and connections among the
peoples of the two areas.
The Cultural Context section offers visitors an understanding of
how these groups of Native Americans see themselves and the world
around them, an understanding that is embodied in the many
objects they make, including jewelry. Displaying jewelry together
with headdresses, masks, pottery and other historic and
contemporary objects, this section examines different aspects of
world views, including the role of seasons and seasonal
resources, the significance of directionality and a layered
universe, the importance of transformation and shamanism, and the
pervasiveness of mythology in daily life.
In Contemporary Jewelry, Master Artists and Historical Stories,
each geographic region is divided into major tribal groupings,
featuring the Navajo, Zuni, Hopi and Santo Domingo of the
Southwest; and the Haida, Tlingit and Kwakwaka'wakw of the
Northwest Coast. Jewelry and artifacts, accompanied by
informative text panels about these tribes, focus on their
hallmark styles and techniques and also highlight the exceptional
contributions of individual artists.
The final section explores commonalities between the two
geographic regions, displaying artifacts from the Northwest Coast
and the Southwest that suggest intriguing parallels in the past
and reveal mutual influences in the present.
A video installation spanning three plasma screens presents many
of the artists discussing their vibrant art and culture against
backdrops of stunning landscapes.
The museum is celebrating the exhibition's opening day on
Saturday, October 30, with an afternoon event featuring Native
American dancers in ceremonial regalia, including representatives
of the Haida Nation from the Queen Charlotte Islands in Canada
and the Cellicion Dancers from the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico. The
celebration is free with suggested museum admission.
The American Museum of Natural History is at Central Park West
and 79th Street. For information, 212-768-5800 or
www.amnh.org.
