Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico

 Santa Fe’s Museum Hill is home to the Botanical Gardens and several world class museums, several of which we visited.  You will find the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, and the International Museum of Folk Art.  While we had just over two weeks in Santa Fe, we didn’t have enough time to see them all.

We already made the trek to the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, but didn’t find the time to visit the Wheelwright.  We did take Sunday to visit the Museum of International Museum of Folk Art and quickly learned that a day is not nearly enough.  That’s the thing about travel, there is always a reason to come back.

 The Folk Art Museum was full of surprises.  From the Ghhúunayúkata / To Keep Them Warm: The Alaska Native Parka exhibit exploring the art and utility of the parka for the Alaska Native People.  And the Mexican Art of Paper and Paste, and the folk art of the Ghosts and Demons of Japan.  We could have spent the entire day in the Multiple Visions exhibit which fills the entire Girard Wing.  Here is a short view of our visit.

Yōkai: Ghosts and Demons of Japan

Yōkai folklore has been a part of of Japanese culture for hundreds of years.  You see it in the storytelling, theater, art and performance.  It influences those expressions today.  The display tells this history through the art.


Kagura Mask

Kagura Mask

Tengu Yōkai Mask

Tengu Yōkai Mask

Ushioni Matsure: Cow Demon

Pokémon

La Cartonería Mexicana / The Mexican Art of Paper and Paste

This exhibition is located in the Mexican Heritage Wing and explores the folklore of this art made from simple materials, which has been practiced for years.  There are over 100 examples from piñatas, day of the dead skeletons, dolls, masks and elaborate fantasy animals.





















Girard Wing - Multiple Vision: A Common Bond

Alexander Girard was a collector.  Fascinated by nativities, toys and miniatures he pursued his passion.  In 1978 the Girard’s made a donation to the museum that included some 106,000 objects.  So much so they had to build an additional wing onto the museum.  “Sandro” was an interior designer and architect by profession, contributing to major companies world wide.

He personally designed the Multiple Vision exhibition, building the displays for some 10,000 pieces.  His design often creates a different perspective, allowing you to see some of the diorama as if you were at street level, or invited to enter or attend.  If you spend an afternoon here, you would not have enough time! 


Where to begin????

????

These Cowboy’s saved the San Antonio River Walk




These miniature displays were used to show Indian civil servants at work.

A Mexican kitchen….

….and patio

At the bull fight.  As you look past the action to the crowd, you see that they too are crafted miniatures.

At the baptism 

A french nativity





Between Heaven….

….and Hell.


At the international market










































Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Orleans

Image
Jackson Square We spent just over a week and a half visiting the New Orleans and the surrounding area.  The main reason we came was to go to the first weekend of the Jazz Fest.  It was a return visit for us.  We came with good friends in 1990.  A bit has changed since then. Fortunately we have friends and family who call this wonderful area home.  We visited them, and made some new ones.  It is one of the reasons we now live this way.  Oh the things you will see, and the people you will meet!  Like Wade Norris who commented on AIROSMITH, "As campers, we want to be proud of our equipment, don't we?" We stayed at the Fairview-Riverside State Park  in Madisonville, Louisiana.  The park is located on the North shore of Lake Pontchartrain, and sits alongside the Tchefuncte River.  It wasn't new to us as we stayed here in December 2010.  But the park has been updated since then.  Speaking with the Park Manager, th...
Read more

Whitney Plantation, River Road Louisiana

Image
We have been hesitant to take a Plantation Tour in the South.  Because of what they celebrate, often only the beauty and opulence of the grounds.  And for what they don't, the very reason for their existence and the success. The Plantations are something to behold.  They history they tell of New Orleans Delta, and how they literally built an agriculture economy out of cotton and sugar cane from the swamps that dominate the area. What is often left unsaid, or glossed over is how these riches were built on the backs of Black men, women and children.  How slavery enabled the rich and privileged to build and maintain their power through the forced labor of human beings.  Humans who were brought here from Africa, and later their sons and daughters, and then their grand and great grand children who were sold as property through the domestic slave trade.  Their labors enforced through the brutality of cruel masters and overseer's. A walk through the Whitne...
Read more

Diva Day in the French Quarter

Image
Friday was Diva Day.  It's when a number of marching clubs, The PussyFooters, The Bearded Oysters, The Camel Toe Lady Steppers, The Prima Donnas, The Goddesses of Fun and Marriment, The Divine Jewels of Covington and their Elvi escorts, rally at Arnaud's on Bienville at Bourbon Street and strut their stuff.  Many of these clubs also march in other parades, but this is a chance to see them, up close and personal. With a police escort, they stroll through Bourbon and Royal Streets in costumes that have been a year in the making.  Standouts are the beaded bustiers made from Mardi Gras beads. Want-to-Be Divas wait years to join a club.  These women stroll along with brass bands and do there best to make sure the crowd has a good time. Words really can not do these ladies justice, so I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  As the Times-Picayune says about the French Quarter on the Friday before Mardi Gras, "The greatest free show on Earth." Laissez...
Read more