New Hands, Native Lands exhibition at Birmingham Museum of Art

October 5th - February 8th, 2009

The exhibition New Hands, Native Lands presents recent Navajo pictorial textiles and Pueblo pottery from the American Southwest as a compelling blend of tradition and innovation in both craft and design.The Pueblos are a group of 30 Native American villages,including the well-known Hopi, located primarily in New Mexico and Arizona. The ceramics tradition in the Pueblo area began more than 2,000 years ago.

For the Navajo people, who live adjacent to the Pueblos, weaving is an important part of their identity, history, culture, and economy. Traditional weavings include blankets and robes featuring geometric motifs, but weavers responded to the new market opened up by the railroad and began to create pictorial textiles. Once created for tourists, pictorial textiles have become their own important Navajo tradition, and their subject matter reflects all aspects of Navajo life.

For more information, see http://www.artsbma.org/exhibitions/new-hands-native-lands