Film Sessions

Each day will end with a film presentation. Symposium attendees will stream the videos on their own, and then join the presenters for a Q&A session

Olimpia Newman, Colcha Circle: A Stitch in Northern New Mexico Culture

Thursday October 15th, 8:30-9:30 pm ET

Colcha embroidery is folk art, characteristic of Northern New Mexico history, traditions and a form of cultural expression that has not been researched and documented sufficiently. It has been practiced in private homes, small circles, as a result of commissions or economic development programs as has also been the case in the San Luis Valley, Colorado. Despite the exposure offered by local markets, demonstrations during events in New Mexico, the embroidery is in many ways an unknown technique even to the next generation. This video captures a candid discussion among eleven Colcha artists, some of whom are entering their eighth decade, about what brought them to this art form, how it makes them feel and what inspires them. It is entertaining, filled with opinions coming straight from artists, and illustrated with inspiring designs and exquisite craftsmanship. Initially, the embroidered cloths adorned beds, windows, and ceilings as well as home and church altars. Today Colcha embroidery pieces are part of New Mexico museums’ collections or purchased from the artists during exhibitions. Embroidery circles still meet regularly, and some of the featured artists conduct workshops and teach in schools. This video gives close-up insight into this art form, and the viewer will gain an understanding and admiration for this folk art, and for the individual interpretations of Colcha embroidery expressed by each artist. The presentation will conclude with a show & tell of some materials and finished samples of this unique folk art.

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Carolyn Kallenborn, Textiles Talk

Friday October 16th, 8:30-9:30 pm ET

Textiles Talk use the textiles in the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection at the University of Wisconsin, as entry points into stories that address issues of material culture and global perspectives. The visual strength of the objects teaches lessons in global aesthetics, materials, and techniques. The stories embedded in these primary source materials demonstrate complex interactions between technology, chemistry, commerce, trade, belief systems, political structures, and details about everyday life. The intriguing stories and beautiful videography of the objects in the collection will be augmented by music appropriate to each topic and additional visual materials such as maps, photos, etc. to complete the story. 

For the TSA conference, Textiles Talk features two episodes, each 15 minutes long. The first episode is with Professor Henry Drewal who will pull us deep into the mystical world of the ceremonial ensembles and Egungun dancers of West Africa. The second is an interview with author and Professor Emeritus Beverly Gordon, who guides us through the playful, colorful story of Molas from Panama.

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Bernadette Jarrad and Jennifer Swope, Raven’s Tail Journey of Evelyn Vanderhoop

Saturday October 17th, 8:30-9:30 pm ET

Bernadette Jarrard’s video Raven’s Tail Journey of Evelyn Vanderhoop portrays an important facet of Northwest Coast Native American weaving in the context of Vanderhoop’s recent commission from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In 2017, the MFA commissioned a Raven’s Tail dance robe from Evelyn Vanderhoop, one of the foremost Haida weavers of her generation. Described as a “woman’s art,” the Raven’s Tail weaving technique is completely geometric and, as such, distinct from Naaxin weaving in which curves and ovoids delineate zoomorphic elements. Considered a “lost art” for over a century, Evelyn Vanderhoop explores the work of her mother and teacher, Delores Churchill, to revive Raven’s Tail weaving, revealing its hidden cultural story. Jarrard’s interviews with Vanderhoop and footage of her at work on the Raven’s Tail robe for the Museum of Fine Arts are interwoven with images and sounds of Haida Gwaii off the coast of British Columbia. Vanderhoop’s description of the robe’s iconography connects viewers to ancestral stories that resonate with the transcendent place in which she lives and works. This moving story of renewal culminates with Evelyn Vanderhoop presenting the Raven’s Tail Robe in dance at the Museum of Fine Arts in February 2018.