Indian Market spills over into many local galleries, museums
Drawings, films, performances among Santa Fe display of talent
“Indian” by Rick Bartow (2014) is pastel, colored pencil, graphite, tempera and acrylic on paper. It is included in an exhibit at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.
All day Saturday and Sunday, thousands of people — tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands! — will be flocking to the Santa Fe Plaza and its surrounding streets to delight in the culture and beauty of arts produced by Native peoples from throughout North America.
And after chatting up the artists, soaking in the sights and maybe even giving their credit cards a major workout, many of them will be wondering the same thing: How can I get out of the sun/ rain and maybe even give my feet a rest while still partaking of Native culture?
My favorite respite is to duck into the New Mexico History Museum auditorium and take in a screening of a film or two from the Native Cinema Showcase. It’s air-conditioned, dark and quiet — except for the films’ soundtracks — and the films are often fascinating. Plus, it’s free and the seats are reasonably comfy. You can find the schedule at swaia. org under the Indian Market schedule of events; screenings are set for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
Also nearby is the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 108 Cathedral Place, which is chock full of both activities and exhibits over the weekend. Granted, most of the panel discussions are outside, but under a tent and with chairs. At 5 p.m. today, you can hear about Native storytelling from alumni of the Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab and Full Circle Fellowship; at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, you can hear a panel discussion and get a tour of the new exhibit of work by Rick Bartow (Mad River Band of Wiyot Indians); and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, the focus will be on Inuit art from Cape Dorset. Those are just the highlights; check with the museum or the website (iaia. edu) for more details.
That museum also hosts an exhibit exploring the paintings of Lloyd Kiva New, the founder of the Institute of American Indian Arts and an innovator in teaching contemporary arts to students. Head on over to the New Mexico Museum of Art catty-corner from the Plaza to see an exhibit of works by major artists who attended or taught at IAIA and fell under New’s influence.
Just about every art gallery in town will have exhibits featuring Native artists, so those are always good choices to stroll around and get out of the weather. One of the most convenient exhibits will be one of Indian Market’s own: Edge, located in the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. And I say convenient because the underground parking garage there is a prime spot to stow your vehicle while exploring the market.
Indian Market Edge, by the way, is a collection of contemporary works by Native artists and the galleries or organizations that support them. In one indoor space, you can see a variety of works in various mediums, including fashion and digital displays. Even Dallin Maybee (Northern Arapaho/Seneca), chief operating officer of the organization running Indian Market, is expected to have a digital installation in this exhibit. This element of Indian Market grew out of complaints that the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts was concentrating too much on works that adhered more closely to tribal traditions — but increasing allowance for innovation has appeared in the standard market booths in recent years.
If you want to end your weekend with further exploration of contemporary Native arts, head on over to the Center for Contemporary Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail, at 7 p.m. Sunday. Rulan Tangen and her troupe Dancing Earth will present a performance described as “multisensory, interactive” with features that will include a “seed exchange, aerial performances, live music and spoken word.” A DJ dance party will follow from 8 to 9 p.m. in the gallery.
The Dancing Earth performance was designed in response to an installation by Cannupa Hanska Luger, “Everything Anywhere,” that features a large face constructed from fragments, with “hair” extending out and climbing the gallery walls.
Tickets for the performance, titled “Dancing is Everywhere; Earth is Everything,” are $20 in advance (www.ccasantafe.org) or $25 at the door.