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August Issue 2006
Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte, NC, Features Exhibition of Basket Collection
Woven Worlds: Basketry from the Clark Field Collection will be on view at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte, NC, from Sept. 9 through Dec. 31, 2006.
For centuries, American Indians have woven remarkable basketry suffused with their cultural heritage. Showcasing 125 baskets, Woven Worlds: Basketry from the Clark Field Collection honors tribal groups from the United States, Canada and northern Mexico, and weaves together the interrelationship between the artists and the collector, Clark Field. This special exhibition and its companion catalogue are the culmination of four years of concentration on the Philbrook Museum of Art's encyclopedic collection of baskets dating from the late 19th to the mid-20th century.
American Indian basket
weavers have long transformed grasses, roots, ferns and bark into
works of art unsurpassed for their aesthetic appeal. By the close
of the 19th century, museums and collectors were scrambling to
acquire authentic American Indian baskets from what was thought
to be a "vanishing culture." What began as a hobby
in 1915 for Field, a Tulsa, OK, businessman, turned into an obsession
by the 1930s. Field's passion for American Indian basketry took
him 125,000 miles, to approximately 142 different tribal groups,
resulting in a 1,070 piece collection of American Indian baskets.
Field's journey from Tulsa to New Mexico and California, through
the deserts of Arizona, Nevada and Utah, and north to the cold
Northwest Coast and Alaska is traced in his pursuit of baskets
featuring excellent craftsmanship and magnificent beauty. Masterpieces
from approximately 80 tribal groups are represented in this exhibition,
including Washoe artist Louisa Keyser's (Dat So La Lee) spectacular
Degikup (1918) and an outstanding Pomo Feather Basket, as well
as Apache and Pima trays.
Beginning with the first basket Field collected in 1915, a Jicarilla Apache hamper, the exhibition is arranged by regions. Examples of work from eight regions are on display: the Southwest, Southeast, the Intermountain West (including the Great Basin and Plateau), California, Northwest Coast, Arctic and Sub Arctic, Plains and Prairie, and Eastern Woodlands (including the Northeast and Great Lakes). Each region focuses on technique and materials in relation to the culture and environment of the native peoples living there, allowing an opportunity to compare and contrast baskets from the eight regions and witness the vast diversity among the indigenous peoples of North and Central America.
To tell these stories more clearly, included in the exhibition are historic photographs and two textiles: a Chilkat Blanket in the Northwest Coast section, and a Navajo Third Phase Chief's-style Blanket in the Southwest section. The story of the collector Clark Field will also unfold from region to region.
Woven Worlds: Basketry
from the Clark Field Collection
celebrates the tightly focused vision of one collector and the
artistic and geographic diversity found within the American Indian
culture. In Field's own words, "To the novice there is the
obvious difference in shape, color and texture of Indian baskets.
To the collector there is the hint of the whole pattern of life
of the Indians who produced the basket." An innate appreciation
of the beauty of American Indian basketry allowed Field to become
part of a process of interrelations between European-Americans
and American Indians.
Today, this collection is considered one of the most significant
basketry collections in North America for its exceptional breadth,
beauty and aesthetic quality. Relive the remarkable journey of
a dedicated collector and celebrate the woven worlds of American
Indians at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design.
There will be many unique opportunities in the coming months for the community to participate in Woven Worlds-related activities, including craft demonstrations by American Indian artists, children's classes, teacher workshops, public lectures, a family day, family fun guide to the exhibition, and artist residencies in local schools.
The Mint Museums are supported, in part, with a Basic Operating Grant from the Arts & Science Council, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Inc.; the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Charlotte; and their members.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum at 704/337-2000 or at (www.mintmuseum.org).
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