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Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
The latest: screenings and a powwow on Hollywood Boulevard, a ship tells tales in Miami, and weaving collections and contests.
FILM: Lights, cameras, LA Skins Fest!
It’s a most unlikely sight – powwow dancers and drummers in the courtyard of a slick urban mall on the most famous street in Los Angeles, while new film releases screen in the iconic Chinese Theater upstairs. The LA Skins Fest brings it all together this weekend as it celebrates films and filmmakers, hosts the Annual Native Media Awards Celebration, and the 6th Annual Hollywood Pow Wow.
“As the entertainment industry continues to reshape itself, the La Skins Fest continues to grow opportunities for our community.” said Patricia Gomes, festival director. ”This year, we are expanding the festival and increasing our ability to showcase new Indigenous cinema.”
A highlight is a screening of “Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae” on Nov. 23 that will premiere on Hulu on Nov. 26.
The LA Skins Fest is expanding the screening series to accommodate the many films emerging from Indian Country. Founded in 2007, the festival is a multicultural event celebrating film, television and new media with dozens of filmmakers presenting their new works, artist development programs, tributes to community leaders, special events, and notable films, parties, mixers and writing labs.
ART: Ghost ship haunts Sunshine State shores
Miami Art Week finds the best of the art world converging on the shores of Miami Beach with dozens of art fairs and free public art events.
A must-see art installation will be unveiled Dec. 3 at Faena Beach from Nicholas Galanin, Tlingit/Unangax, called Seletega (run, see if people are coming/corre a ver si viene gente) through Dec. 8.
Partially buried on the hot sands, the art takes the form of a Spanish galleon’s masts, sails and rigging emerging from under the sand. Rising over 40 feet in height, the work ties the occupation of Indigenous Florida land to the initial invasion of the Americas by those seeking wealth for European aristocracy.
In 1519, Cortés led a Spanish expedition to the Americas and later ordered his ships to be destroyed. This forced his crew, exhausted from the long journey, to be unable to retreat or join forces with an enemy. Cortés’s actions meant there was no turning back. The Spanish expression quemar las naves (burn the ships) means eliminating the possibility of retreating.
The protruding masts and sails of the galleon evoke a decisive moment — a point of no return. Past actions force commitment to a new, uncertain future. Burning and sinking a ship means never going back.
Spray painted on the sails in both Spanish and English (the first languages to colonize the Americas): “What are we going to give up to burn the sails of empire? Qué vamos a renunciar para quemar las velas y los aparejos del imperio? What are we going to build for our collective liberation? Qué vamos a construir para nuestra liberación colectiva?”
As the ships were burned to make retreat impossible, the work asks viewers to reflect on what must be let go to move toward collective liberation.
Galanin has had monumental work displayed in Palms Springs, Calif., for Desert X; Brooklyn; and at a current gallery show in New York City at Peter Blum gallery.
DESIGN: New Diné design collection
After the successful cultural collaboration with Diné weaver Naiomi Glasses, Ralph Lauren has announced a new collection — the Double RL x Zefren-M capsule.
Zefren-M (they/them) is a Diné multidisciplinary artist showcasing Zefren-M’s approach to weaving to celebrate Navajo traditions with designs blending the old and new. The capsule features men’s and women’s sweaters, woven bags and a floor rug in a color palette that reflects the landscape of the Navajo Nation.
For aspiring student designers, the American Indian College Fund and Pendleton Woolen Mills, are accepting submissions for the Tribal College Blanket Design Contest. American Indian and Alaska Native students attending a tribal college or university are eligible to submit up to two designs. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 15, 2025.
Competition winners will have their designs distributed internationally and also receive scholarships and cash prizes. Winning designs will be featured on wool blankets in Pendleton’s American Indian College Fund collection. Submission guidelines and applications are available on the College Fund’s website at https://collegefund.org/pendletoncontest. Textile design experience is not required.
MUSIC: Grammys snub Natives
There are zero Native music nominations for Grammy Awards, again.
As a former board member of the Native American Music Awards, we had helped get a Grammy category in 2001. The first award was presented by Robbie Robertson and Val Kilmer. That lasted 10 years until it was folded into the Regional Roots category. The reason — it was a “traditional” category with no room for more contemporary music and it limited membership.
While there were notable and well-deserved wins — Bill Miller, Mary Youngblood (who both won twice), and Joanne Shenandoah — the Grammys lost interest when membership didn’t grow. Since then, only a few drum groups have gotten nods.
With the rise in interest in Native art and fashion, maybe music will get another chance to be heard on the Grammys.
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