Come oh come ye tea-thirsty restless ones -- the kettle boils, bubbles and sings, musically. ~ Rabindranath Tagore
sidnora outside the exhibit
Good evening, Kibitzers! On Saturday, I was lucky to be able to meet
sidnora at the southern end of Manhattan to visit the
National Museum of the American Indian. We saw a beautiful exhibit of jewelry made by a Navajo family who are world-renowned for their gorgeous work, the Yazzie family. I assert this was the "smallest possible NYC meetup" because we were not only the minimum number of persons necessary to qualify as "meeting up", but are also pretty short, as NYC Kossacks go.
I will tell you right up front that photography was not allowed in the exhibit, so I will not have jewelry pictures below, but will have a link to a slide show of some of the nicest pieces. I was seriously delighted to be able to attend the show with sidnora, because she is a professional goldsmith and I learned a tremendous amount by listening to her discuss the pieces we were seeing. But you don't need a goldsmith guide to enjoy this show, and I would urge you to go if you can get there. It's there all year, till next January. The museum is a branch of the Smithsonian, and so admission is free and it's open every day except Christmas. If you're around New York City, or passing through this year, consider checking it out!
To reach the museum, I rode the subway downtown and walked over to Bowling Green, the city's oldest park, built in 1733 next to the site of the Dutch fort of New Amsterdam. The park has its original fence, erected by the British government to protect their 1770 installation of a two-ton gilded-lead equestrian statue of George III, which attracted a good deal of protest as well as graffiti. New Yorkers pulled the statue down in 1776, after hearing the reading of the Declaration of Independence, and shipped the lead to Connecticut to be made into bullets (painting of this event).
Bowling Green Fence
Erected by the Common Council in 1771, this fence surrounds New York's earliest park. The park was leased in 1733 for use as a bowling green at a rental of one peppercorn a year. Patriots, who in 1776 destroyed an equestrian statue of George III which stood here, are said to have removed the crowns which capped the fence posts, but the fence itself remains.
Just south of the park, the museum is inside the fabulous 1907 Beaux Arts
Alexander Hamilton Customs House, designed by Cass Gilbert of McKim, Mead & White.
Arrayed in front of the building are four monumental sculptures by Daniel Chester French, the Continents. Here's Africa, the "sleeping continent" in the view of the time, snoozing between the Sphinx and a lion.
The last picture I have for you is the sign at the entrance to the exhibit, with its text below because it's hard to see. Please visit the exhibit's web page, because you really, really need to see a little of this jewelry that I was not able to photograph for you. There's a slide show of 13 eye-popping pieces; sidnora and I were having a very difficult time picking a favorite, or even a couple of favorites. You can see a few more pieces in the video, below.
Glittering World
Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family
Ni’hookaa Dine'e (Earth Surface People, as the Navajos call themselves) believe that their ancestors took a journey from the First World upward through several underworlds. As each world became chaotic, they moved to another. As they entered this world by climbing a reed, some people say they emerged upon a great height. From there they could see the land around them was soft mud. As light and color reflected upon the moisture in the mud, it glittered and sparkled and they called this world the Glittering World (Ni' Hodisos).
~ Vivan Arviso (Navajo) 2014
Jewelry has long been an important art form among southwestern Native Americans. A history of migrations, trade, and cultural exchange contributes to its vibrancy. This exhibition places the jewelry of the Chee and Elsie Yazzie family -- a family of fourteen, who have lived near or in Gallup, New Mexico, all their lives -- within the context of the Southwest's continually evolving art history.
The Yazzies remain connected to their Navajo upbringing and a core set of common values rooted in tradition: harmony and balance, reciprocity, respect for the family, and the importance of living a life of significance and producing work of quality.
Although the individual style of every family member is presented, the major focus is the award-winning work created by brothers Lee A. Yazzie and Raymond C. Yazzie. Their stone inlay, silver, and gold jewelry is among the finest in the world today. Lee and Raymond's jewelry resonates because of its artistry and quality of workmanship. Equally important are the layers of cultural meaning embedded within the designs, which bring to life the complex history and beliefs of the Navajo people.
The Yazzies and their jewelry are quintessentially Navajo and uniquely individual. Taken as a whole, this assemblage of jewelry is the collective statement of an extraordinary family and culture.
~ Lois Sherr Dubin, Guest Curator
Here's the video prepared by the Smithsonian to accompany the exhibit:
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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