Back to Contents | RU Magazine | Back Issues | E-mail the Editor | Subscriptions | Alumni Association | RU Homepage An RU graduate shares her fascination with the unique art of the Huichol Indians. by Kathy Hensley t has been almost been two years since John Bowles and Huichol art began to work their magic on me. I had just graduated from Radford University and was beginning to work as an intern for RU Galleries director Anna Fariello. Ms. Fariello introduced me to Mr. Bowles, whose family donated Selu Conservancy to the university. He and his family were likewise responsible for the recent donation to RU of the Kolla-Landwehr Foundation Collection of Huichol Art. The afternoon I met him, he very excitedly showed me some reproductions of artworks now in our new collection. We also looked at some photographs by Mexican ethnographer Juan Negrín, which depict the Huichol people in their Sierra homeland. I was captivated by the brilliance of these people's artistic expression and their traditional way of life. Having earned a bachelor's degree in art with a concentration in art history, I had seen a great deal of religious and spiritual art - from Renaissance and Celtic to Greek and Egyptian - but nothing to compare with this. That very day, I agreed with both Ms. Fariello and Mr. Bowles to focus my internship on helping prepare the Kolla-Landwehr Foundation Collection of Huichol Art for our gallery's "Bright Fields of Corn and Color" show this spring. Little did I know what a great opportunity I had been given to immerse myself in a valuable learning experience, or where the next two years would take me. Mr. Bowles' enthusiasm about these intriguing tribal people and their vibrant artworks made me very curious and eager to learn more. I went to the library and checked out a stack of books that I renewed as many times as the library would let me. I read about various aspects of Huichol culture, from their traditional agriculture and complex shamanic religion to their various forms of crafts and art. I began to feel as though I had been introduced to something extraordinary and unique. One rather improbable source I used in my research was obtained by Mr. Bowles from a museum in New Mexico. It is a photocopy of a photocopy of a carbon copy of a lost, unpublished manuscript on Huichol mythology written in the 1930s by ethnographer Robert Zingg. Over the course of two years of field work with the Huichol, Zingg gathered oral information on many Huichol myths. Studying such a document proved quite a challenge, especially since in many places the text was barely legible. However I knew with persistance I'd eventually find something relevant to my special interests. After much reading with little reward, I gradually became frustrated and ready to give up. But then, in the second volume of this manuscript, I found an entire section devoted to corn mythology. I came across the story about how Watakame, the Huichol's "First Cultivator," obtained corn from the Corn Mother. That very story was depicted in a series of three tablas (yarn paintings) in RU's collection. With a burst of renewed interest and determination, I realized the significant connection I had made. This clearly demonstrated the strength of the Huichol's oral tradition and complimented the story previously explained to us by the artist, Juan Rios Martinez. How extremely gratifying to find that the drudgery of research sometimes pays off! Even more gratifying than research has been the opportunity to share some of this exciting material with others, then in turn seeing them being inspired to do Huichol projects of their own. Since the beginning of this spring semester, Mr. Bowles and I have been giving presentations about the Huichol and their art to several different university level courses, including anthropology, art and English classes. One particular Honors class, studying Latin American Cultures, has completed a special project on Huichol art. Sherrie Austin, an ambitious media studies student, has done a great deal of work on RU's "Corn and Culture" theme, including video interviews of Marilou Awiakta and Juan Negrín during their visits here last semester. She will also do a week-long video of Guadalupe Gonzáles Ríos, a world-renowned Huichol yarn-painter who, inaugurated Radford's spring exhibition. He and his son Fermín demonstrated the creation of a yarn painting. Throughout this academic year, Mr. Bowles and I cultivated people's interest in the Huichol exhibition. In addition to making presentations on campus, we visited many local public elementary and middle schools. This of course required a different kind of preparation than for college classes. For this we sought and received invaluable help from two veteran teachers of Native American descent, poet Marilou Awiakta and New York public school teacher Deborah McPherson. After learning what we could from them, we gave a "trial-run" presentation at last September's Appalachian Teachers Network Conference held on the RU campus. This proved to be the first in a long line of many such presentations, which I have found to be the most rewarding part of my internship. It's a good feeling to see those young eyes light up upon recognizing a deer or an ear of corn in a yarn painting. It's even more gratifying when those youngsters start to grasp the importance of studying and accepting other cultures and their sometimes unusual ways. Some local people have wondered what Huichol art has to do with us in Virginia. Being a native of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I've been able to note a number of meaningful correlations between our local traditions and those of the Huichol. For one, we both share the challenges and joys of living in a rugged mountainous terrain. Some of the photographs I have seen of the Huichol territory look just like our own Virginia highlands. We have many traditions in common, such as storytelling, and we share the values of hard work, self-reliance, respect for our elders and a tremendous love of nature and all its bounty. We even share some particular customs such as the old tradition of burying a fish in the field just before the crops are planted. One of the artists in Radford's collection depicts himself doing just that. Other delightful similarities appear in our women's crafts. For example, the same eight-pointed star so popular on Appalachian quilts frequently crops up as a corn-related flower in Huichol embroideries and weavings. Through such cross-cultural comparisons, our familiar local traditions can be appreciated in a new light, while seemingly remote and "exotic" cultures become more endearingly familiar. I heartily urge every one of you to come, see and discover for yourselves "Bright Fields of Corn and Color" - in which wonders both new and familiar await you! The exhibit continues through June 8. Corn and Culture in Context Students examined the social, economic and religious significance of corn and found tangible links between modern and ancient American cultures. By Kathie Dickenson Selu: A Slice of Paradise Selu Conservancy provides a rich variety of academic and recreational opportunities with the opening of the new retreat center. By Rob Tucker Back to Contents | RU Magazine | Back Issues | E-mail the Editor | Subscriptions | Alumni Association | RU Homepage