TOP PICKS FOR THE WEEK
Indigenous tattoo practitioners from around the world will meet at the Santa Fe Art Institute next Sunday for a symposium to discuss the revival of traditional tattooing practices and other conversations celebrating the cultural art forms.
The first “Ancestral Ink” symposium features a roster of master and emerging tattoo artists, the founders of the Earthline Tattoo School on the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus and several other scholars/artists. The program will include on-site demonstrations, video screenings and talks on subjects including different tattoo traditions and designs by region, as well as cultural protocols and appropriation.
The event is from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Aug. 18 at SFAI, 1600 St. Michael’s Drive. Admission is free, but registration at sfai.org is recommended due to limited seating. Food trucks and musical
acts will be set up during the lunch hour. “Ancestral Ink” is being produced by Kua’aina Associates, a California-based organization with a mission of supporting indigenous communities, and Santa Fe’s Broken Boxes Podcast.
‘ALCOVE’ RELAUNCHED:
The New Mexico Museum of Art’s “Alcove” series returns this week with its first exhibition showcasing five living artists. The first in a series of six shows opened Saturday and will remain up until Oct. 12. “Alcove” derives from a set of shows that were held when the museum was founded in 1917. Relaunched in 2012, it provides a chance for contemporary artists to be featured in the museum’s historic space. “The Alcove series of exhibitions gives us a chance to focus in on a few of these artists and to generate conversation around their work,” curator Merry Scully says.
The artists being shown in the first exhibition of “Alcove 20/20” are Santa Fe sculptor and painter Dan Namingha; Willard-based sculptor Stuart Arends; geometric abstraction painter Mohka Laget, from Santa Fe; Roswell painter Diane Marsh; and Emi Ozawa, a wall sculpture artist living Albuquerque. An artist talk with this set of artists will be held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Aug. 23 at the museum, 107 West Palace. The second “Alcove 20/20” show will open Oct. 19.
COMEDY FOR A CAUSE:
The Jean Cocteau Cinema is putting on a comedy show for a good cause. On Friday night, three local stand-ups will perform to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. According to the organization’s state chapter, 41,000 New Mexicans suffer from the disease and 108,000 family members act as unpaid caregivers. The “Dont4get2Laugh” Comedy Night and Silent Auction will feature acts including Virginia Gonzales, Zach Abeyta and Scotty Goff. The show is 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Jean Cocteau, 418 Montezuma. Admission is $10. Purchase tickets at jeancocteaucinema.com.