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The Language of Native American Baskets:
From the Weavers' ViewOn the lower tip of Manhattan island, there is a gem of a museum, open seven days a week, free of charge. The National Museum of the American Indian is housed in the old U.S. Customs House, located at 1 Bowling Green, near the Staten Island ferry, and across the street from Battery Park. The building, perhaps the finest example of the Beaux-Arts style in New York City, was designed by Cass Gilbert, and is characterized by Greek-style columns inside and out; a sumptuous, marble-paneled lobby; and sculpture outside by Daniel Chester French, the renowned maker of the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C. Reginald Marsh, an important 20th-century painter, later created mural paintings for the ceiling of the vast rotunda.
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| Basket, 2003 by Terrol Johnson, Tohono O’odham (Tuscon, Ariz.). Cast bronze gourd with bundle-coiled bear grass. (Photo courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian) |
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The museum possesses more than a million pieces, making it the world's largest collection of Native American art. But rather than simply show them all at once, the curators have created a series of shifting exhibitions, focused and organized so that a visitor can easily make sense of and appreciate the objects. At present there are three major exhibitions: one called "First American Art," a sumptuous show of tremendous variety; a changing exhibit called "Continuum: 12 Artists," presenting new work by 12 contemporary Native artists; and "The Language of Native American Baskets: From the Weavers' View."I found there was just too much to see in one visit, so I opted to concentrate on the current exhibition of Native American baskets. Although this show has been open for more than a year, it will close in January of 2005. It is beautifully organized, large, varied, and thought-provoking. If you are tempted to think that this is a show about crafts rather than "art," think again.
The difference between art and crafts has perplexed many for a long time; in fact, one goal of many artists during the latter part of the 20th century and the start of the 21st has been to break down those barriers.If the difference lies in the utility or lack of utility of the objects, then many of the objects in the show are unquestionably art, since they are hardly usable baskets in the usual sense, but rather, pieces of sculpture, made for purely aesthetic reasons. But, then, who really cares about the distinction, if there is one, anyway?So, leaving categories aside, let's look at the show—a marvel of orderliness. Consisting of more than 200 19th- and 20th-century baskets from the museum's collection, as well as recent works, it would be overwhelming, if not for the focus and sensitivity shown by the curators.
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| Ear of Corn, 2003. Theresa Hoffman, Penobscot (Waterville, Me.). Natural and dyed wicker-plaited black-ash splints with wart weave overlay. (Photo courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian) |
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In the center of the first room, you will see several glass cases containing luminous objects. Four invited artists each chose four traditional baskets to pair with their own baskets, as well as some by their colleagues. These make up the core of the exhibition, around which curators have deftly woven (literally and metaphorically) the entire show. This central part demonstrates living links to a tradition. On the tables next to the works lie small catalogues containing the artists' thoughts, while additional quotations have been reproduced on walls throughout the galleries. Unlike many exhibitions, this one encourages you to sit first, and look through these books while studying the objects, before you move off to other rooms. The whole exhibit is seen through the eyes of the weavers, and it is organized by means of weaving techniques.And the baskets themselves? Well, many are only baskets, as we know them, in the broadest sense of the word. They include jars, earrings, hats, clothing, portfolios, a mural, and non-representational sculpture.The objects in the show represent four basic weaving techniques: wicker, plaiting, twining, and coiling. Explanations next to the baskets clearly define these various methods. Sometimes weavers combine techniques and, especially in contemporary works, add unexpected forms and materials.Witness the basket by Terrol Johnson. For this work, Johnson, an Arizona artist, cast a gourd in bronze, adorning it with bundle-coiled bear grass. The combination of strength and delicacy, of solidity and airiness, produces an artwork of character, elegance, and grace. Certainly its function as a "basket" has been lost, but it possesses a new identity. "This piece walks in two worlds," the artist has said, "just as many native people do."Another contemporary piece, by Theresa Hoffman of Waterville, Me., Ear of Corn, looks like the real thing, but is constructed of wicker-plaited black-ash splints, with a wart-weave overlay. Next to the "ear," its long, smooth husk is displayed as separated from the cob—but, in fact, its end fits neatly into the top of the basket as a cover. Thus, in a clever turn, the artist has replicated the original function of the husk, to protect the corn.
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| Beaded Miniature Basket, 2003. Julia Parker, Kashaya Pomo-Coast Miwok (Yosemite, Calif.). Three-rod and one-rod coiled willow and sedge root with glass beads. (Photo courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian) |
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Julia Parker's Beaded Miniature Basket of 2003 is an example of an updated traditional Pomo basket. The Pomo tribe used these tiny, incredibly detailed, labor-intensive baskets as gifts to important or revered persons; sometimes they were destroyed in honor of the dead. This piece, like the traditional ones from the beginning of the last century, shows off the skill of the weaver. Bristling with colorful glass beads, it is made of a base of natural materials: coiled willow and sedge root.This basketry exhibition is but one aspect of a most remarkable institution. To return to a consideration of the museum as a whole, it is important to know that no object associated with ritual or religion is shown unless expressly approved by the appropriate tribes. In fact, one goal is to return to them, upon request, certain objects, especially those some collectors had acquired illegally.The museum is under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, and it should be noted that, by press time, an exquisite new National Museum of the American Indian will have opened on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.The National Museum of the American Indian is located at 1 Bowling Green, and is easily accessible by subway. Take the 1 or 9 to South Ferry; the 4 or 5 to Bowling Green; the J, M, or Z to Broad Street; or the N or R to Whitehall Street. The museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (and stays open on Thursdays until 8 p.m.).Art historian Greta Berman has been on the liberal arts faculty since 1979.
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