Media & Press Information»

Multiple Visions: A Common Bond
Long-term Exhibition, Girard Wing
This unique exhibition designed by the collector and donor, Alexander Girard». Since the opening in 1982, more than a million visitors have been delighted by the richly varied displays in numbered cases- toys, and traditional folk art from more than 100 countries. Take a tour with a Docent, or explore this text-free gallery on your own with the printed gallery guide or Ask about the NEW multimedia tour at the front desk!
Girard Art Projects»

Media & Press Information»

Brasil & Arte Popular
In the Cotsen Gallery, Neutrogena Wing
November 17, 2013 - August 10, 2014
A fascinating range of unique and vibrant folk traditions are presented featuring over 350 pieces from the museum’s rich Brazilian collection, ranging from graphic woodblock prints, colorful ceramic and wood folk sculptures, toys, puppets, and religious art, to lively festival dramas with dance, music and costumes. The varied cultural mix found throughout the vast region of Brazil not only draws from the original indigenous inhabitants, but also from the Portuguese colonists who began to settle there in the sixteenth century, as well as the enslaved Africans brought by the Europeans. The curator, Barbara Mauldin, tells us that “eventually merging traditions created the dynamic cultural fusion that is so uniquely Brazilian.” The majority of work in the exhibit is from the twentieth century when folk artists found that they had more freedom to portray their history, folklore, and daily life. Religious practitioners could now carry out their rituals openly and festival performers were able to draw from old traditions.

About the Photo: Bumba-Meu-Boi is a comical and very popular folk drama brought to Brazil by the Portuguese colonizers in the eighteenth century. The original plot centers around the death and resurrection of a prized bull, but the story has been adapted to reflect typical northeast Brazilian rural life, involving many varied and costumed characters in a series of comic episodes. Today it is performed throughout Brazil during the Christmas holidays, Carnival, and June festivals. Woodblock print by José Francisco Borges, Bezerros, Pernambuco, Brazil, 1990. IFAF Collection, FA.1991.17.52.

New World Cuisine: The Histories of Chocolate, Mate y Más
In the Hispanic Heritage Wing
closing January 5, 2014.
This exhibition tells the tale of the earliest cultural mestizaje (mixing) to take place in the Americas through food. The exhibition highlights foods that originated in the New World and foods that were brought over from Europe via Spain and Asia via the Spanish Manila Galleons. Several special sections in the exhibition highlight specific food items. Two of these are chocolate and maté. The exhibition traces the origins of these two popular drinks, how they rose to popularity during the colonial period, and how they were introduced into European society and culture, and how they have become a strong component of popular culture today. More than 300 objects related to food harvesting, preparation, table settings, kitchen items and utilitarian and decorative implements are highlighted in 3 kitchens to illustrate the rich culinary traditions of the Americas. Gallery activities include a scent station, world food map with magnets, gallery recipe exchange, and Facebook recipe exchange (Photo: by Kitty Leaken) Media & Press Information»

Tako Kichi: Kite Crazy in Japan
In the Bartlett Wing
EXTENDED THROUGH July 27, 2014
A popular pastime and festival activity for centuries, Japanese kites remain a delightful and entertaining tradition.

Traditional kites from Japan are made from a split bamboo framework and layers of handmade washi paper. The kites are often finished with colorful painted narrative illustrations, legendary heroes, and design elements that reflect Japanese folklore. Everything about these kites is based on kite-making traditions and aesthetics of distinct regions within Japan.

This exhibit presents traditional kites from various regions of Japan and introduces a number of respected traditional kite artists. It explores cultural, historic, and artistic perspectives of kite-making and kite-flying in Japan. Visitors can participate in the artistic process of making kites through engaging gallery activities. Public programming for this exhibit will include lectures, kite-making workshops, and kite-flying on the plaza at Museum Hill. (Photo: Daruma Kite, c. 1960, From the collection of David M. Kahn)

Let's Talk About This: Folk Artists Respond to HIV/AIDS
In the Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn Gallery of Conscience
through January 5, 2014

We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Alabama, 1965

The Gallery of Conscience is a new kind of experimental exhibition space at the Museum of International Folk Art for 2013. Everything in the gallery is a work in progress. Come in, linger, talk, share ideas and explore important issues of conscience together, drawing on the power of folk arts to “show and tell it like it is.”

The Gallery of Conscience will focus on folk artists’ responses to HIV/AIDS, both here in New Mexico, and around the world. The artists themselves will show you the way during special programs for International Folk Arts Week 2013»—with equal parts humor and pathos and love.

“You must not be ashamed to speak out, telling the community! When you keep quiet you sign your own death warrant.” Maria Rengane, embroiderer, South Africa

(Photo, above: La Curacion del Corazon: The Healing of the Heart, by Diana Moya Lujan. Photo by Blair Clark)

Shop the Museum Store»