They Wove for Horses: Diné Saddle Blankets

It is no secret that the Navajo (who call themselves the Diné) excelled at weaving. While most of their textiles were produced for trade, they had a strong tradition of producing saddle blankets for their own horses. These weavings span the duration of Navajo weaving from the first half of the nineteenth century to the present. The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture is currently presenting They Wove for Horses: Diné Saddle Blankets, an exhibition that examines innovation and continuity in this quiet but important indigenous tradition. It also looks at the variety of weaving techniques employed as well as the range of yarns from which these blankets were formed.

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Information and images courtesy of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe

Dancing into Dreams: Maya Vases of the Ik’ Kingdom is now on view at the Princeton University Art Museum through February 17, 2013. Unlike some of the other broad installations of Maya art that are being staged this year, this exhibition focuses solely on the painted chocolate-drinking cups from one Maya site located in present-day Guatemala. Ik’ ceramics are characterized by their rich natural colors, veristic portraiture, skillful rendition of graceful movement, and elegantly fluid calligraphy. Dancing into Dreams uses this artistic microcosm to elucidate the courtly politics and dynastic history of the Ik’ Kingdom.              

View the exhibition's official website.

Information and images courtesy of the Princeton University Art Museum

Streetparade der Götter – Bronzekunst aus Indiens Dörfern

Entering its final week at the Museum Rietberg in Zürich is Streetparade der Götter – Bronzekunst aus Indiens Dörfern (Street Parade of the Gods - Bronze Art from India's Villages), which showcases bronzes from the Bastar region in central India, an area still mainly inhabited by tribal societies. Visitors will discover unusual, powerful, and highly stylized works which tell of mighty gods, processions and possessed dancers. They will encounter a little-known, independent and complex culture which even today is full of life, despite the changes brought by modernity.
                                              

Visit the exhibition's official website.

Images courtesy of the Museum Rietberg

La Nuova Frontiera

Through December 9, the Palazzo Pitti of Florence presents The New Frontier. History and Culture of the Native Americans, a major exhibition highlighting works from the collections of the Gilcrease Museum of Oklahoma. Featuring tribal objects as well as American paintings and photographs, the show is being held as part of the 500th anniversary of the death of Amerigo Vespucci.

Visit the exhibiton's official website.

Images courtesy of the Gilcrease Museum and Palazzo Pitti