Last week, a group of indigenous leaders gave a small informal presentation at Aveda, where I work as a freelance writer. They were part of a United Nations initiative giving voice to indigenous cultures around the world to help address issues ranging from environmental to politcal abuse.
One of the presenters, Roberto Mucaro Borrero (Taino) is the Program Curator and Coordinator for Living in America, The American Indian Experience. He left a brochure, inspiring me to visit the Museum on Wednesday, my mid-week day off.
I ran into Evan Pritchard, author of Native New Yorkers and a freind. He and a freind of his were on their way to a screening of the Vikings movie at the Museum. But I had no time constraints. And it was a good thing.
The exhibition was just beautiful and although contained in a relatively small space, felt expansive. It was divided into two parallel trajectories: art and jewelry of the Northwest and Southwest.
I was particularly interested in the shamanic necklaces and amulets. Not so much the masks, but the natural objects and the way they are constructed with simple string, knots and lacing. Also a box that swung open on a hinge to reveal amulets, a solid - rather than fabric or skin - medicine pouch. I wish I had sketched while there.
I don't know if it's just age, or perhaps my continuing challenges with Lyme disease, but about half way through the exhibit my focus began to wane and I picked and chose my way thru the remainder of the exhibition, letting my eyes lead me to those things that caught my attention. I often wish exhibitions would be wordless, with a take home brochure that one could refer to at leisure. I imagine that is what catalogs are for, but this isn't the first time that I've petered out before the end of an exhibit. I think I get visually over stimulated. And I did notice that this particular exhibition had a great deal of audio as well, often conflicting, so it's possible my system just got overloaded.
In the gift shop afterwards, there was a huge book of North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment which I would just love to have for reference.
The modern masters and the ancient pieces together were incredibly profound. The video interviews with the artists were really beautifully done. Nice sound bites but intimate and inspiring. The stories about each of the artists and how they came to create their own individual styles, inspired by tradition, but breaking through to unique expressions were powerful.
Wandering my way back out to the subway, after descending the stairs, I found myself in the hall of forests where I had the sense that someday, this might be all that would be left of the natural world - reconstructions in a museum. But for the moment it was nice to feel that I was walking through the woods in the midst of the city.
visit www.amnh.org and follow the links to Totems to Turquoise.
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