Reflections & Expressions: Communities & Cultures of Central & South America

2021 Fall Program

Creating our future, together.

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(609) 292-6130

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artscouncil.nj.gov

2/16/18 2:25 PM

C reating our future, together.

(609) 292-6130

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ABOUT THE PROJECT The project focuses on the cultural heritage of the Central and South American communities in our area through two-year multi-faceted programming that includes exhibitions, educational activities, artist residencies, conferences, rituals, music, and dance performances. This project is part of the WheatonArts’ Creative Community Connections initiative, a series of programs inaugurated in 2004 to inspire meaningful conversations about perceptions of the past and challenges of the present; notions of life, aesthetics, and spirituality—all interpreted through arts. It is designed to bring about understanding, appreciation, and engagement in the arts, traditions, and cultures of our region’s extraordinarily diverse population.

The Central and South American communities in New Jersey are diverse groups representing various cultures, sometimes even within their countries of origin. They were formed gradually over time through past and recent immigration.

Today, they contribute a variety of art forms and traditions to the multi-cultural landscape of our state. Our primary focus is on arts and cultures associated with Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina.

We collaborate with partners, local communities, and various artists working in traditional and contemporary art forms. They offer different reflections on cultural heritage and multiple forms of artistic expression that provide the vehicle to once again engage our audiences in a dialogue about cultural heritage and shared humanity. Major highlights of our 2021 fall programs include three major exhibitions, artist residencies, a community arts project, workshops, and virtual events.

Cover: Ceremonial Huipil, Santo Tomás Chichicastenango, Quiché, Collection of Yolanda Alcorta, DJFC photo archive.

Top: Master Guatemalan Weaver Armando Sosa at His Loom, photo courtesy of the artist.

Middle: Marimba Maya AWAL Music Band, photo courtesy of Yolanda Alcorta.

Back Cover: Embroidery Process, photo courtesy of the Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Clothing.

EXHIBITIONS

Mayan Traje A Tradition in Transition

Down Jersey Folklife Center at WheatonArts September 24—December 31 This exhibition features masterpieces of fiber arts created by Guatemalan Maya artists over a hundred years till modern days. The artworks present some of the finest examples of Guatemalan weaving and embroidery while showcasing various techniques and materials employed in the creative process.

They also illustrate how changes in designs and the adoption of new materials have become a part of the Mayan living traditions and have helped maintain their vitality over time. The displays of “old” and “new” forms of Guatemalan weavings enable the viewers to make comparisons and engage in a deeper conversation about preservation and transformation of traditions, the adaptation of folk arts to the contemporary way of life, and about continuation and change of everyone’s “own” cultural heritage in the multi-cultural context of the American society. The exhibition story reveals the complex character of the Mayan garments and other woven and embroidered pieces. The weaving patterns are interpreted in the context of a broad spectrum of regional, social, ritual, and aesthetic meanings.

Most of the displayed artworks are from the collection of the Friends of the Ixchel Museum (FOIM) — our major partner in presenting this rare exhibition to the public.

The others are provided by private collectors or created by artists residing in our region.

Left: Ceremonial Huipil, Chichicastenango, Quiché, Collection of Friends of the Ixchel Museum (FOIM), photo courtesy of FOIM. Top Right: Nestor, glass portrait by Paula Meninato, photo courtesy of the artist.

Right: Marimba Maya AWAL Music Band, photo courtesy of Yolanda Alcorta.

Persistent Memories Portraits on Glass

WheatonArts' 1876 School House September 24—December 31 The exhibition features artwork created by the glass artist Paula Meninato. Through the optical qualities of paint on glass, Persistent Memories depicts the human toll behind the criminalization of Latin Americans and the human suffering caused by wars and immigration policies.

"As an Argentine-born American artist, I am interested in exploring the correlation between my heritage and immigrant journey through visual images. I want to explore how painful experiences caused by wars and dictatorships change human lives and start a dialogue about the invisibility of immigrants around the world.” For ten years, the Argentine military dictatorship disappeared 30,000 civilians, the desaparecidos. “Through portraits on glass, I aim to capture the unimaginable tragedy behind the loss of these individuals. Some artworks featuring images of family detention are also included to illustrate the impact of colonialism in the present-day."

Some of the artworks are created during an artist residency at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center and made specifically for this installation.

The exhibition also features videos following the creative process to further emphasize the concepts of disappearance and invisibility.

JOINT EXHIBIT OPENING Saturday, September 25 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

• Maya Weaving Demonstration: Julia Sánchez • Meet the Artist: Paula Meninato • Blessing for a New Beginning: Genaro Jacinto Calel • Marimba Music: Marimba Maya AWAL

Francisco Grisolía Dávila At the North of the South

Arts & Innovation Gallery, Rowan College of South Jersey November 19—December 31 The exhibition features artworks created by the Master Venezuelan artist Francisco Grisolía Dávila and offers deep reflections on people's lives and culture. The selection of works is an expressive leap from the new Latin American figuration and shows us Grisolía's vision of the extremely complex situation in Venezuela and its impact on every aspect of human lives for the past few years. We can say that it is a graphic reflection of the traces that daily experiences leave on Venezuelans. We can find these traces in each affected person: physical fatigue, anthropometric changes, and mental exhaustion. The artist comments on the complete destruction of their cultural environment, their education, their tranquility, and their way of life. The lonely, fragmented characters that resist manipulation and repression are portrayed by the strength of texture, contrast intensity, and line energy. Sometimes they are there not to be seen, only to be felt.

Each artwork is what it is, and probably it is not what it was meant to be, even though what it was meant to be allowed it to be what it is. These works speak with the extraordinary language of art, so extraordinary that everyone - all races, all cultures - can read and understand.

EXHIBIT OPENING Friday, November 19 at 6 p.m.

• Virtual Lecture: Francisco Grisolía Dávila

Left: Trilogy, acrylic on canvas by Francisco Davila, photo courtesy of the artist.

Right: Master Mayan Weaver Julia Sanchez at work, photo courtesy of Yolanda Alcorta.

ARTIST RESIDENCIES

Guatemalan Weaving Saturday & Sunday, October 2 & 3 (Festival of Fine Craft) 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

During this 2-day artist residency, Guatemalan master weavers Armando Sosa and Angélica López will provide hands-on demonstrations with different weaving techniques employed by Guatemalan artists for centuries.

Maya weavers use different types of looms – a backstrap loom, a treadle (or foot) loom, and a finger loom for very narrow pieces. Maya women have used the backstrap loom since ancient times. The Spanish introduced the treadle loom to Mayan weavers shortly after their Conquest. Initially, only men were trained to use the more expensive and less mobile treadle looms. Thus, the treadle looms never completely displaced the inexpensive and highly portable backstrap loom, and the two coexist to this day.

Angélica López will use a backstrap loom for her demonstration. Armando Sosa will use tabletop looms for his work and for visitors willing to try the technique. The tabletop loom is a much smaller version of the treadle loom, which Sosa typically uses to create his artwork, but it is easier to move and assemble in smaller spaces. Both artists will engage in conversations explaining the materials, techniques, and aesthetics of today's Guatemalan textile arts.

WORKSHOPS

Maya Sawdust Carpet

Community Arts Project

Saturday & Sunday, October 2 & 3 (Festival of Fine Craft) 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Participate in creating a Guatemalan sawdust carpet during this two-day community arts project led by the Master Guatemalan artist Ubaldo Sánchez. The activity takes place outside the Folklife Center's building.

The piece will be themed around stories and images associated with the Mayan fiber arts, images of Ixchel (Goddess of the moon, fertility, medicine, and patron of weavers), and Guatemalan Maya people dressed in traditional regional garments.

Sawdust carpets are an ephemeral art form created in layers of colored sawdust and sometimes additional materials such as flowers and flower petals, pine needles, rice, fruit, colored earth or sand, ashes, and other usually organic materials. In Guatemala, they are traditionally made to greet a religious procession that walks over them and is dismantled afterward. However, in the US, sawdust carpets are created on various special occasions and incorporate a greater variety of themes.

From Gourd to Maraca Maya Painting Workshop

Saturday, November 13 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The maraca is a must-have percussion instrument that anyone of any age can play! Made of dried gourds with seeds or stones inside and decorated, the maraca is essential to keeping the rhythm flowing in Latin and World music.

The Maya and all Native Americans use gourd vessels daily as well as in rituals and social gatherings. Gourd rattles accompany music and dance performances. These gourds are often painted with patterns found on Maya ceramic vessels and textiles such as those on display at the Down Jersey Folklife Center.

After an inspirational walk through the exhibit, Ubaldo Sánchez, a master Maya-Mam artist, will lead a maraca painting workshop.

A short introduction of traditional and modern decoration methods, along with a pop-up display of painted gourds will inspire you during the two-hour workshop. Decorate two maracas to create music for your family and friends! All skill levels are welcome.

Top Left: Master Mayan Artist Ubaldo Sanchez creating a sawdust carpet in the DJFC, photo courtesy of William May. Bottom Left: Mayan Images, sawdust carpet

by Ubaldo Sanchez for the Smithsonian, photo courtesy of Yolanda Alcorta.

Top/Bottom: Mayan Designs, painted maracas, Collection of Yolanda Alcorta, photo courtesy of Yolanda Alcorta.

VIRTUAL EVENTS

Weaving Life ~ Maya Fiber Arts Thursday, September 16 at 6 p.m.

Explore the amazing story of the Maya textile arts as they are studied and presented by the Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Clothing in Guatemala and the U.S.-based Friends of the Ixchel Museum (FOIM). Ana-Maria Zaugg of the FOIM will briefly introduce the work of both institutions and their role in preserving, protecting, and understanding the Maya fiber arts as an important cultural legacy and a living tradition of the Maya people in Guatemala and the U.S. She will also present her personal perspective on safeguarding Maya textiles as part of her cultural heritage.

Anthropologist Barbara Knoke will further elaborate on the role of the textile tradition in Guatemalan Maya lives, especially its use as a visual artistic expression of ethnic identity. She will discuss the transformation & continuation of the weaving traditions and deeper meanings of woven symbols such as the tree of life, star, double-headed eagle, corn, turkey, and others.

Social Change & Artistic Process Thursday, October 14 at 6 p.m.

Join us for an exciting conversation with the artist who created the artworks for the Persistent Memories installation at WheatonArts!

Discover how Paula Meninato depicts the human toll behind the criminalization of Latin Americans through the optical qualities of paint on glass. As an Argentine-born American artist, Paula is interested in examining the correlation between her cultural heritage and immigrant journey through visual images. She will explore examples of how wars and immigration policies affect people's lives and how the "disappearing" and "invisibility" of human beings are reflected in her artworks.

Engage in a discussion about the power of art in raising awareness of painful experiences not often addressed and its role in the call for social change. Paula will outline how theories of social change are applied in her artistic processes, including the relationship between material and conceptual choices within her bodies of work.

Top Left: Barbara Knoke de Arathoon, cultural anthropologist.

Top Middle Left: Ana-Maria Zaugg, President of FOIM. Middle: Embroidery process, photo courtesy of the Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Clothing.

Left: Ceremonial Plate, woven motif detail, Comalapa, photo courtesy of Barbara Knoke de Arathoon.

Top: Nestor, glass portrait by Paula Meninato, detail, photo courtesy of the artist.

Middle: Paula Meninato, artist and activist.

Bottom: Eduardo, glass portrait by Paula Meninato, photos courtesy of the artist.

Wheaton Conversations a virtual series highlighting select and diverse artists. Program support is provided by PNC Arts Alive.

Music of Argentina ~ Traditional & Contemporary Perspectives Thursday, November 18 at 6 p.m.

Join us for a narrated concert and conversation with internationally known musician and composer Carlos Pavan to explore a new approach to classical guitar. In his music, Pavan combines Argentine tango and folk dance rhythms with jazz harmonies and classical techniques.

It results in unique musical bridges between traditional musical genres of his native country, American Jazz, and past European masters. Pavan's compositions cover a broad range of styles and moods while conveying his Argentine cultural heritage's messages, aesthetics, and emotions.

Top/Bottom: Carlos Pavan, classical guitarist and composer.

Bottom Right: Love is still the greatest of who & what we are: for how the sky is a song in the shape healing, for how not to die of sorrow, for how we need each other-- I am reaching for your hand. (Detail) By artist Vanessa German. WheatonArts’ Museum of American Glass photo archive.

celebrating fifty years With a history spanning five decades, WheatonArts is where imagination and artistic processes meet for a mesmerizing arts experience for all ages! Located on a charming 45-acre campus in southern New Jersey, WheatonArts is an arts community dedicated to engaging artists and audiences in an evolving exploration of creativity.

Explore the renowned Museum of American Glass at the heart of the campus, housing one of the most comprehensive collections of glass produced in America – from the first glass bottles made in America to celebrated works by contemporary artists such as Dale Chihuly and Paul Stankard, as well as the world's largest hand-blown glass bottle! Discover unique exhibitions celebrating the region's cultural diversity within the Down Jersey Folklife Center.

Interact with resident artists in the Glass, Pottery, and Flameworking Studios as they skillfully demonstrate the transformation of clay and molten glass into beautiful objects. Shop the award-winning Museum Stores for traditional and contemporary art and crafts in all mediums. Enjoy scenic picnic areas, and walk the Nature Trail stretching throughout the campus.

Learn more at

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Reflections & Expressions: Communities & Cultures of Central & South America is a project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center. Additional project support is provided by the Cumberland County Cultural and Heritage Commission.

This Down Jersey Folklife Center project series edition was made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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WheatonArts strives to ensure the accessibility of its exhibitions, events and programs to all persons with disabilities. Provide two weeks notice for additional needs. Patrons with hearing and speech disabilities may contact WheatonArts through the New Jersey Relay Service (TRS) 800-852-7899 or by dialing 711.

Funding has been made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and the New Jersey Cultural Trust. WheatonArts receives general operating support from the New Jersey Historical Commission, Division of Cultural Affairs in the New Jersey Department of State and is supported in part by the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism.