VOA常速英语:美国土著女性艺术家作品在大型展览展出

A major new exhibition in the heart of Washington celebrates the artistic achievements, of Native American women with more than 80 works of art.
Parts of our people,Native women artists is the first exhibit of its kind,says Anya Montiel,
curator of American and Native American Womens Art and Crafts,at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
There have been other exhibitions in the past that have featured only Native women artists.
But those exhibitions tended to future contemporary art.
So the curators of this show,they wanted to make sure that this exhibition is comprehensive, in the timespan
as well as including many different artistic mediums as possible.

Those mediums range from paintings,textiles and sculptures to baskets and even wearable art.
The exhibit explores three central themes, legacy,relationship and power.
Legacy is really talking about continuum.
A lot of these artists have learned these traditions from their ancestors.
Adorned with teeth from hunted elk,it took many years to gather enough to decorate a single dress.
So you have this dress that is put together by the women of the family,
but with this beautiful decoration,that really shows the legacy of the entire family.
The theme of relationship represents the connection between humans and the earth.
This one is called Wisdom of the Universe by Christi Belcourt.
And it looks like beadwork,but its actually all painting in acrylic.
And upon closer inspection,the insects the birds and the plants are actually endangered species,
and so its really presenting to us what are we going to do about this.
The theme of power speaks to the authority of Native women within their nations.
Especially for the Muscogee Creek,they are matrilineal nation.
The women were the ones who made the decisions,especially about whether or not they were going to go to war.
Visitors did the exhibit had an emotional response.
The last piece I was just looking at how to scar from shoulder to her hip,
and the trauma of the culture that has been really traumatized by another was extremely impactful.
One over there with the girl and the scar in the back that was really powerful.
I don’t know. It’s just like,I wanted to cry when I saw it.
And that’s the point of this exhibit,
expose people to the variety of artwork created by Native American women, who may never have received the credit they deserve.
This exhibition has so many testaments of these women saying that,
despite everything that’s happened to Native women, the cultures and the traditions are still so strong.
This touring exhibit remains in Washington until May