Horizons: Weaving Between the Lines with Diné Textiles showcases over 30 textiles and related items from the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s (MIAC) extensive collection. Historic and contemporary weavings will be displayed alongside digital prints, photographs, and audio interviews. Horizons strives to bring specificity to the documentation and interpretation of these items, highlighting the voices and perspectives of contemporary Native artists and makers to express the cultural legacy and continued vibrancy of weaving traditions in the American Southwest. Importantly, many of these historic textiles have never been exhibited or made available to the public. Individually and collectively, these items tell multiple stories about identity, place, and creation. They reveal the material traces of artistic innovation and individual expression that have been overlooked until now, while also disrupting the colonial contexts in which they were collected and subsequently preserved.
Through the exhibition and its accompanying publication, Horizons will generate new scholarship and interpretive frameworks that specifically work with, and towards, decolonial and community-oriented methodologies. Co-curators Dr. Hadley Jensen and Rapheal Begay (Diné) are collaborating with an Advisory Committee of five Diné weavers, educators, scholars, and cultural consultants, Lynda Teller Pete, Tyrrell Tapaha, Kevin Aspaas, Larissa Nez, and Darby Raymond-Overstreet. Together, this expertise grounds the project in Diné knowledges, lifeways, and cultural practices. Shaped by the voices of contemporary weavers and cultural practitioners, Horizons will provide museum audiences with a deeper understanding of Diné artistry and ways of knowing, past and present.
Click here to watch the promotional video for this exhibition: https://vimeo.com/765078838
We invite your sponsorship support of Horizons: Weaving Between the Lines with Diné Textiles. Exhibition sponsors are integral to funding exhibition costs including curation, community outreach, conservation, installation and promotion. Click here to learn more: https://www.museumfoundation.org/miachorizons/
Photo captions:
Woman’s shoulder blanket, unidentified Diné/Navajo artist, ca. 1880–1890. Handspun wool, vegetal dye, indigo dye, aniline dye, sinew, and plant matter. Gift of Mrs. Philip B. Stewart. Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Collection, 9100/12.
