Wednesday, July 12, 2017

New Mexico Road Trip: the Museum of International Folk Art





~~~Part One~~~

As much as Denis and I enjoyed being outdoors and visiting places like Las Vegas and Taos, I think the Museum of International Folk Art on Museum Hill in Santa Fe was the highlight of our trip to New Mexico. 

The second I read about it having the largest collection of international folk art in the world, I knew I was going to enjoy my visit, but I wasn't so sure about Denis. I shouldn't have worried. Denis loved it, and we both almost wore out our cameras. 

Our visit is going to be broken up into three segments simply because of all the photos I took.  The sheer numbers of them that I'll be posting will probably shock you, but-- trust me-- there are at least two hundred that I'm not sharing! If you'd like to take a look at any of the photos in their original sizes so you can see more detail, just click on one of them. A new window will automatically open, and you'll be able to take a good look at them all.

I'm not going to do a lot of talking-- just a lot of showing-- so I'm only going to say one more thing before I get started. The largest exhibit space only had numbers by each item that corresponded to a spiral-bound book that had to be returned at the end of our visit; therefore, I can't tell you much about the art in the photos. It's a shame, but I think you'll find that many of them speak for themselves, especially if you look at the photos in their original sizes.


Other folks enjoying the museum.

So much work went into making these!

Detail of one of the panels.

This shone like a beacon in the spotlights.

Loved this vignette because of the couple in the upper right window.

With my love of Dia de los Muertos art, I loved exhibits like this!

Chinese folk art

Closeup of part of the Chinese folk art display.

There are days I think they'd throw me off this railroad car!

Handwoven rug depicting the Four Corners area.

My favorite diorama depicting a celebration in a pueblo.

Mothers & babies enjoying the sunshine & the celebration.

More people coming to the celebration.

Something close to my heart: a wall of hand-stitched samplers.

One of the samplers.

All the art on this church is wonderful!

A hand-woven rug from Russia.

Folk art from India.

Indian folk art.
More Indian folk art.
All right-- you can rest your eyes now! One of the things that kept going through my mind as I (very) slowly worked my way through the museum was the wall of samplers. I stitched a sampler of my own when I was eight years old. For generations the women of my family have had an affinity for needle arts. For example, I have a huge crocheted tablecloth made by my great-great-grandmother. I'll never have a table large enough to put it on, but I'm not about to get rid of it. Will some of my own needlepoint, some of my knitting, survive through the generations? It's doubtful... but nice to think about!

I hope you've enjoyed the tour through part of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Next Wednesday, I'll show you another gallery.

 

6 comments:

  1. Oh, my, this is all so beautiful, Cathy! I do love folk art, and it looks as though the setting is as lovely as the pieces are. Lucky you to have seen it.

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    1. They have a new exhibition of Chinese quilts now. I'd love to go back!!

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  2. Wow! Quite amazing.
    Love all of it. The celebration in the pueblo is so detailed and full of so many people.
    The attention to detail no matter the type of art or the medium is just awesome.
    Thanks for sharing, and I can see why you took so many photos.

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    1. I'm just about to put together the second post on the museum. I wish I could transport it here-- I love that place!

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  3. I can see why you love it. Hope you can return soon.
    But you have the photos to look at, some kind of consolation and souvenirs.

    I still kick myself that I wasn't paying attention at the age of 19 in Mexico City at the anthropological museum.

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