Events Museum exhibits • Tours • Festivals • Meetings • Education • Conferences
v NEW EXHIBITS Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian
R.A.Whiteside
George Gustav Heye Center, New York, N.Y.—The spectacular new exhibition “Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian” includes some 700 stunning works of native art from throughout North, Central, and South America, demonstrating the breadth of the museum’s renowned collection and highlighting the historic importance of many of these iconic objects. Organized by geographical region, objects include an Apsáalooke (Crow) robe illustrated with warriors’ exploits, a detailed Mayan limestone bas relief depicting a ball player, a carved and painted chief’s headdress, a Chumash basket decorated with a Spanishcoin motif, and an ancient mortar from Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon. (212) 514-3700, www.americanindian.si.edu (New long-term exhibit)
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M.—The new photography exhibition “Chaco Uncovered: The Field Schools 1929 to Present” showcases the archaeological expeditions that uncovered Chaco Culture National historical Park. The first University of New Mexico field school embarked on an archaeological project at Chaco in 1929 and the excavation project continues today with a long collaboration between archaeologists, students, and the National Park Service. The exhibit is a visual history of the park, including pictures from the 1930s and 1940s that provide a rare glimpse into the world of early field schools by documenting the excavations as well as other aspects of daily life. (505) 277-4405, www.unm.edu/~maxwell (Through February 2012)
Courtesy of the Anchorage Museum
Anchorage, Ak.— In the 1990s, several baskets were discovered near Sitka that scientists carbon dated to nearly 5,000 years ago. The spruce and hemlock baskets were prepared and woven using many of the same techniques still practiced today. These baskets are powerful reminders of how long this skill has been passed down in Alaska from mother to daughter, elder to apprentice. “Unraveling the History of Basketry” showcases about 80 of the approximately 1,000 baskets in the Anchorage Museum’s collection dating from the 1880s to the 2000s, highlighting the beauty and practicality of the objects, but also the patience, skill and creativity of the women who made them. (907) 929-1200, www.anchoragemuseum.org (Through December 31)
american archaeology
Dallas Museum of Art
Anchorage Museum
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas, Tex.—The museum’s first Native American exhibition in nearly 20 years, “Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection” will showcase 111 works of art from the renowned Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art at the Fenimore Art Museum. The exhibit explores the extraordinarily diverse forms of visual expression in Native North America. The works of art date from well before first European contact to the present, and celebrate the continuing vitality of American Indian art (214) 922-1200, www.dallasmuseumofart.org (Through September 4)
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