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Initiating a dialogue: Indian Pueblo Cultural Center unveils mural of strength and resilience
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When you enter a museum, you might expect to see videos of old historical events, pamphlets with information about past conflicts or a painting from hundreds of years ago.
You can find just that at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, but some paintings, like the new 鈥淧oeh Ah Ka Wohatsey: The Emergence Teachings of Resilience鈥� mural, have a twist.
With its bright colors and kawaii theme, viewers can learn history in a new format. Kawaii is an art style based off of the Japanese word for cute. The art style is often defined as featuring big eyes, bright colors and simple designs.
The seven panel mural features three different illustrations to demonstrate the changes in Native American history through the times.
The left panel represents the origins of Pueblo values and ancestry, celebrating the deep relationship between the earth and the Pueblo people.
The middle panel depicts the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, where war captain Po鈥橮ay of Ohkay Owingeh led a revolt against Spanish colonizers. The revolt is the only successful Native American uprising in North America.
The final panel is a representation of Native American people today, reflecting the combination of modern times with longstanding tradition.
Leah Povi Marie Lewis (Laguna, Taos, Zuni Pueblos/Hopi/Din茅) and Votan Henriquez (Maya/Nahua), creators of the resilience artwork and owners of the NSRGNTS collective, felt that they needed to create a piece of art that spoke of history while still being digestible for a younger audience.
鈥淵ou can go through the entire one-hour experience of the history museum or you can also look at it as an art piece going from one stage to the next and then to what it is now,鈥� Henriquez said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 very simple because we had to break it down as simple as possible to be able to capture that story. And in a way, you can kind of tell just by looking at it what each piece represents.鈥�
When the two were commissioned by the IPCC to create art that would be featured in the museum鈥檚 Art Through Struggle gallery, they had already been experimenting with their kawaii style.
鈥淲hen we were approached by the cultural center here, I think it was because we had previously done a mural in Poeh (Museum & Cultural Center), which is up north, and it was a kawaii style up there,鈥� Henriquez said. 鈥淪o I believe Michelle (Lanteri, head curator of the IPCC鈥檚 art museum) liked that style and that piece. So we started the conversation about doing something here. They gave us pretty much free rein to decide what direction we were going to go with it.鈥�
The two decided to focus on their kawaii style when they realized their children didn鈥檛 have many positive Native American representations in media. Henriquez said they felt there was a void in representation and the representation they did see was stereotypical.
鈥淲e started creating these characters for our children because we wanted them to have positive and accurate representation,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e about 30 characters in and their family keeps growing.鈥�
Henriquez believes the kawaii art style helps to start a conversation from a new perspective.
鈥淲e felt the incoming generation deserves history and the truth,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is a way to initiate a dialogue in a forward-thinking way.鈥�
The mural took a lot of research to ensure that history was correctly depicted. The couple spent a month researching and developing a plan for the mural. Lewis said the couple reaches out to Native Americans who still wear traditional clothing to make sure they are properly portraying customs.
鈥淓very group that we represent through these characters, there鈥檚 a lot of research that takes place,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ometimes it takes us over a month to be as accurate as possible.鈥�
Lanteri said she reached out to the couple and organization about the mural in January. She learned their background and felt their art style would be a good addition to the gallery.
鈥淭hey were commissioned as part of a healing theme for the Art Through Struggle gallery,鈥� Lanteri said. 鈥淲hen you look at the mural, it鈥檚 like a walk-in storybook.鈥�
The mural was originally meant to be a temporary exhibit that would last a year and then get painted over, but the couple felt it would be better to paint large removable murals so the artwork can be shown somewhere else.
Lewis and Henriquez hope their art sparks a positive conversation about the history of Native Americans and their resilience despite the tragedy they have faced.
鈥淎 lot of history has been glossed over,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淲e really feel the new generation needs to know the truth, even though that can be hard. We utilize these characters to tell those stories.鈥�
