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70 WEAVING AND THE SOCIAL WORLD New Haven—Weaving was an important artistic achievement of the ancient cultures of South America. Andean peoples fi rst produced textiles around 10,000 BC and in doing so created one of the world’s earliest weaving traditions. Improvements in technical sophistication occurred there around 1800 BC, when growing populations, large settlements, and intensive agriculture transformed the region and set the stage for the great civilizations that would follow. Lacking written languages, Andean societies used clothing to defi ne a person’s gender, status, occupation, wealth, and community affi liation. Textiles also played an increasing role in political and religious rituals. When high-status individuals died, they were wrapped in layers of fabrics and buried with cloth offerings. Weaving and the Social World: 3,000 Years of Ancient Andean Textiles, at the Yale University Art Museum until September 18, 2016, celebrates the signifi cance and beauty of ancient Andean textiles, demonstrating the spectrum of their designs and functions. It features exceptional loans from private collections, including tunics, mantles, and wall hangings, as well as related feather, gold, and silver ornaments; weaving implements; and ceramic vessels. Characterized by graphically powerful images of deities, animals, and geometric motifs and by advanced weaving techniques, these textiles reveal the brilliance of ancient South American weavers. The exhibition was co-curated by Peter David Joralemon and Dicey Taylor. LEFT: Dancer with rattle. Nopiloa style, Veracruz, Mexico. AD 600–900. Earthenware. Denver Art Museum, inv. 1955.122, museum purchase. BELOW LEFT: Dancing maize god tripod plate. Maya, Tikal region, Guatemala. AD 675–800. Earthenware with colored slips. D: 34.3 cm. Collection of the Denver Art Museum, inv. 1983.362, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Larry Ottis. RIGHT: Checkerboard tunic. Inca, South Coast, Peru. AD 1450–1550. Tapestry weave, embroidery, cross-loop stitching. Private collection. Photo courtesy of the Yale University Art Museum. BELOW: Mantle with abstract rayed deity. Sihuas, South Coast, Sihuas Valley, Peru. 500 BC–AD 100. Scaffold weave; camelid wool. Private collection. GRAND GESTURES Denver—Pre-Columbian art is full of human and supernatural fi gures in dramatic poses. Some clearly portray dance, while others appear to represent singing, oratory, drama, and ritual. A new exhibition titled Grand Gestures: Dance, Drama, Masquerade features twenty-nine Pre-Columbian objects drawn from the Denver Art Museum’s extensive collection. The exhibition is full of human and supernatural fi gures in dramatic poses, as well as objects such as plates and drinking vessels with dramatic painted depictions. Some of the objects clearly portray dance, while others appear to represent singing, oratory, drama, and ritual. This cross-cultural exploration was curated by Margaret Young-Sánchez and will be on view through Dec. 11, 2016, as part of Dance! a museum-wide celebration of creative expression through movement featuring dance-focused exhibitions, programming, and local artist collaborations, as well as interactive installations, to create an immersive and whimsical experience. Another component of Dance! presents the motives behind Native American dance and how dance impacts the arts in paintings, expressed through some eighty-six works. Why We Dance: American Indian Art in Motion was curated by the museum’s Nancy Blomberg and John Lukavic working with guest curator Russ Tallchief. Not limited to historic Native American artworks, this multisensory exhibition features modern and contemporary works, including largescale dance-themed portraits from the 1939 San Francisco World’s Fair by Charles Loloma, Jose Duran, and Ignacio Moquino. MUSEUM news


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