elder and dance performer to see these masks reunited?
CM: It’s incredible. It means that we now
have the opportunity to bring them together and see them like they were presented in ceremonial
houses. Having them together is like a restoration.
BEYOND YUA Q: What will happen to the masks and Matisse
drawings after this exhibition closes?
SM: Alas, this is a temporary exhibition, which will live on in the exhibition catalogue, and in
our memories, and afterward the masks and other works must return to their home collections,
which surely will miss them while they are away.
My wish is that this exhibition will influence the
approaches museums take in the future, to present
Yup’ik materials in respect to their original context and terminology.
Also, we have identified some of the original
Q: What do you want people to leave the exhibition knowing?
SM: To me, an experience that moves us should
spark our attention and curiosity. The very premise of this show is the most curious one: How did
VIEW
Q: What does it mean for you as a Yup’ik
Henri Matisse come to encounter the Arctic? And, that’s where we begin, telling such a complex story.
CM : That Yup’ik artworks, mainly the masks,
have a timeless quality. They inspire artists from various parts of the globe. That is the timeless
quality — that artists from another part of the globe can respond to them. The masks evoke
something on a visceral level. It’s the inspiration that we take away. The masks came from our
dreams. They transcend all boundaries. We are all going to be privileged to be part of this museum exhibition — Yup’ik people, all of the people
working toward the exhibition, and everyone who will see the exhibition. It has become an endeavor to bring the masks together. That is a privilege.
artists who made the masks, which is another
important outcome for me and my dear friend and colleague, Chuna McIntyre. By identifying the mask makers and seeing them as master artists
on a par with a master like Matisse, we recognize individual artists of our cultures equally, as real
people instead of anonymous members of separate groups. After Yua closes, we hope to further
expand public awareness of these art forms by
organizing a smaller exhibition in which some of
the masks we have borrowed from the Anchorage
Sean Mooney
Chuna McIntyre
Photos: Sebastian Kleihs, Heard Museum
Museum in Alaska can be reinstalled with their mates upon their return to Anchorage.
FA L L 2 01 8
11