Southwest Indian Art Fair breaks down barriers
TUCSON, Ariz. - Promising something for everyone in every price range, sponsors of southern Arizona;s premier Indian art show and market delivered this year with performances, demonstrations and more than 200 of the finest artists in the Southwest.
The Southwest Indian Art Fair was a complete show, with products ranging from pottery and paintings to baskets, blankets, beadwork, jewelry, rugs, kachina dolls and other carvings. Demonstrations included the making of drums, flutes, jewelry, pottery, textiles and sandpainting.
Artists came from 50 tribal entities in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and California for the 14th annual show, which is aimed at serious collectors, long-time enthusiasts and first-time shoppers who met the craftsmen and heard stories about the handmade objects.
''All cultural events have the same purpose - to bring people together for cross-cultural education,'' said Angelo Joaquin Jr., coordinator of Arizona State Museum's signature event, in a release. ''We want people to walk away enriched by the barriers that are broken down by art, music and food. I'm struck by the number of comments the museum receives each year citing how the fair's intimacy - its ability to create and maintain cherished relationships - surpasses that of any other comparable event in the region.''
What Joaquin really likes about this show is a multi-faceted opportunity for people to shop, be entertained, and learn. ''One of the things that sets us apart from other shows is the intimate ambiance we offer,'' he said. ''We have 225 artists, where other shows may have three or four times that number - and three or four times our crowd of six or seven thousand. When you have the larger shows, artists tell me you have a mass production line of people walking past and the artists don't get a chance to talk about their creations. We honor our ancestors and their cultural teachings that are embedded in the creations on sale. It's important, in particular for the artists who have left a part of themselves in their work, to know the purchaser who walks away with the item - and part of the artist.''
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Joaquin, a co-founder of the Tucson Waila Festival who was born to the Coyote Clan of the Tohono O'odham Nation, is currently pursuing a degree in ethnomusicology and is no stranger to visual arts, as he is a consultant to many exhibitions as well as the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and the National Museum of the American Indian.
The fair's featured artist, Vino Leon Manuel, Tohono O'odham/Hopi, was extracted from a rural reservation upbringing as a child and transplanted away from tradition and language into a large urban setting. The new surroundings taught Manuel to see the world as flowing streams of experiences and he used that vision as inspiration for his raw artistic talent. Today, he draws on his Hopi heritage to work bright colors into traditional and modern designs.
''When I draw,'' he said, ''I can feel the flow of the artwork and the spirits as they come together in harmony.'' The 27-year-old's pencil drawing, ''Warrior Boy and Girl,'' was the fair's featured piece.
Joaquin smiled and said, ''I truly believe if you create something for the right reasons, it comes together successfully. And while the monetary aspects are important in commerce, the spiritual aspects are as important as the financial. A good state of wellness is a balance of physical, mental and spiritual health, and the artwork at this fair allows artists to achieve and rejuvenate the spiritual and mental parts of their lives while they sell their art.''
No sooner had the fair's drums, dancers and displays departed, than a Jewelry Trading Days swap appeared to continue the buying mood. ''Practically everyone in this part of the country has a collection of authentic Southwest Indian jewelry,'' said event coordinator Paddy Schwartz, who also organizes a similar event for the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston, Ill.
''These trading days offer an opportunity to sell pieces no longer wanted, or acquire new items as bargain hunters can purchase from a wide selection of Navajo, Hopi, Apache, Zuni and Tohono O'odham pieces.'' In an example of the ''everybody wins'' philosophy, the museum gets to keep 30 percent of sales transactions as a fundraiser.
