ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 7, 1997 TAG: 9704070046
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MRYL GUY JONES
A LECTURER at a conference in Chicago several years ago posed a question that has haunted me as I have visited many exhibits. The question is applicable to a major exhibit at Radford University of Huichol art from northern Mexico. (The exhibit, which opens Wednesday, will be on display in Radford University's Flossie Martin Gallery through June 8).
Why is art of the indigenous people of Africa, Asia, the Americas and the Pacific Islands usually housed in the Field Museum of Natural History, whereas the art of the European tradition is housed in the Art Institute of Chicago? Is one collection ``natural history,'' the other ``fine art?''
In other words, why do we tend to view the art of other cultures as a quaint curiosity rather than authentic art?
I would argue that the Radford exhibit of the recently donated Kolla-Landwehr Foundation Collection of Huichol Art belongs in an art gallery. To dismiss Huichol tribal art as primitive or ``folk'' art does it an injustice. The religious and cultural nature of medieval Christian art does not detract from its authentic artistic value. Likewise, the less familiar religious and cultural nature of Huichol art should not detract from its true artistic value.
In both cases, an understanding of the cultural basis for the art helps to decode the images and iconography, but it's not aesthetically necessary. Both styles are powerful expressions of fully realized artistic visions, derived from religious traditions. It's just that one tradition is familiar to us while the other is not.
As one can enjoy the stained glass windows of Chartres without a key to all the panels, one can respond to the beauty of the Huichol tablas and respect the religious devotion that inspired them without knowing all the iconography of Huichol religion.
The works authentically reflect the religious tradition of the Huichol belief in Mother Corn, the use of psychotropic plants as a way to visions, the power of the shaman, the spiritual significance of the pilgrimage. They are not, however, actual votives produced to be placed in a sacred space.
The Huichol artists in this exhibit are individual creators, making works that are authentic to their tradition but also a means of preserving a disappearing way of life. Critical is the fact that these artists are not making works to be sold as mere souvenirs or decoration. The works retain the power of art created to express the religious vision of the artist's culture.
Even the words used in our travel brochures betray our attitude toward that which is foreign. Words such as charming, simple, exotic, mysterious and secluded betray a tendency to denigrate other cultures by seeing them as separate and quaint, in a way that conveys a subtle sense of superiority. We should be aware of this and correct our tendency to disparage the unfamiliar.
Mexican ethnographer Juan Negrin, who will lecture on Huichol art at 7 p.m. Wednesday in McGuffey Hall, Room 203, told collection curator John Bowles: ``To date, I have been extremely secretive about the Huichol - the only thing I haven't been secretive about is the importance of recognizing the ability of the individual Huichol to be major artists on a par with great artists of any culture, not just from an ethnic curiosity perspective.''
Although the goal of the exhibit is to display ``fine art'' from another culture, the viewer may appreciate some guidance in what underlies the production of these tablas.
The tablas are created by placing a layer of beeswax on a board and then pressing yarn into wax kept warm by the sun These contemporary objects invoke pieces from an earlier period. The works in this exhibit were produced by six artists (three are shamans, the eldest of whom will attend the exhibit opening) from a population of approximately 15,000.
The 30 works in this exhibit are, with a few exceptions, part of a gift of 59 pieces donated by John Bowles, who has been intimately involved in the development of Radford University's 376-acre Selu Conservancy. Most of these art works will ultimately be displayed through the university's Living Art Collection; 12 tablas in the collection will be permanently shown in Selu Retreat Center's seven-sided room modeled after the Cherokee council chamber.
Each piece is accompanied by an explanation of the basic images drawn from the religious tradition of three clans in the Huichol tribe. The university's library and the Teaching Resources Center have a catalog with more detailed descriptions of the images along with transcriptions of comments by the artists. A complete decoding is not possible, or necessary.
Huichol art can benefit from cultural analysis or it can stand on its own, distinct from European art, but aesthetically complete. The works are both art and artifact.
Mryl Guy Jonesis an English professor emeritus at Radford University.
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