Here, Now and Always has come a long way in the last 26 years. The permanent exhibit featured at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC) first appeared in 1997, closing its doors in 2019 to be reimagined, elevating the voices not yet heard, and educating a new generation of the cultural experience. The exhibit showcases more than 600 pieces, including jewelry, both traditional and contemporary works from artists across the Southwest.
Berna and Anderson Koinva (Hopi), Hopi Rain Dance Bracelet, silver.
“MIAC’s curatorial project team worked in collaboration with Indigenous artists, scholars and community members throughout the Southwest,” the museum notes. “The resulting exhibition highlights diverse perspectives from the 19 New Mexico pueblos, as well as Apache, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso, Texas, the Hopi Tribe in Arizona, and the Navajo/Diné, Paiute and O’odham communities.”
Silver bracelet with large turquoise stone. Credit: Photograph by Addison Doty.
The museum’s core show breathes new life into the pieces collected. It features an array of gorgeous and masterful works of jewelry that include intricate patterns, delicate beadwork, radiant turquoise and meticulous metal works represented from a tapestry of Native nations. Each item is designed with a story of ancestral individuality. Whether it be a necklace from the Santo Domingo Pueblos from the 1930s or a Navajo Bowguard that goes back even further, their history is rich and alive today just as much as it was yesterday.
Bowguard, pre-1932, Navajo. Courtesy of John and Linda Comstock and the Abigail Van Vleck Charitable Trust, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
Tony Chavarria, the curator of ethnology shares the importance of Here, Now and Always’ revitalization saying, “…It was always the hope that this would continue, because, from that time period to again 2019, you have this whole generation that has passed and people who were very young then who are now entering the field or becoming leaders in the field in their communities for different areas. It always felt important to carry on that voice and continue showing how Native people live…”
Necklace, ca. 1930-1940, Santo Domingo Pueblo. Gift of Grace Bowman, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology. HNA Section: Trade and Exchange.
Here, Now and Always proves that it doesn’t matter if a piece was created 100 years ago or within the last 25, they are connected deeply through traditional and cultural practices passed down for centuries illuminating a unique shared history that is still here, right now, and will be here, always.
Now Open
Here, Now and Always
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture 710 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM 87505 (505) 476-1269, www.indianartsandculture.org
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