Sacred Visions: Contemporary Art of
the Huichol Indians
23rd June~ 31st July, 1999
The Huichol Indians of Mexico are one of the oldest surviving indigenous tribes of pre-Hispanic origin, tracing their lineage, across some 3500 years of history, back to the Olmecs. They are also related to the Hopi and Ute Indians of the south-western United States. What makes the Huichol cultural heritage so unique is the survival of their spiritual traditions, virtually intact, through to the present day despite over 500 years of persecution following the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica in the 15th Century. Following the arrival of the ‘Conquistadors,’ the Huichols moved from the desert plains that had been their homeland for millennia to seek refuge in the inaccessible and isolated mountains of the Sierra Madre. Here, they have maintained their powerful spiritual practices and, until recently, have had little contact with the outside world. Today with fewer than 8000 people living in five autonomous communities the Huichols' ancient life-style is again under threat, this time by the influxes of a modern world that is once more encroaching on their sacred sites - and sacred sights.
The exhibition Sacred Visions: Contemporary Art of the Huichol Indians of Mexico will take place in conjunction with this year's Sacred Voices Music Village. This recurring annual festival of music will present outstanding international musicians from each of the principal religions and other traditional belief systems in a major international celebration. As in previous years, the October Gallery will be the launch venue for the Music Village Festival and will host a varied programme of lunchtime and evening concerts.
The Sacred Visions exhibition will explore the contemporary art of the Huichol Indians, focusing on their yarn paintings, beaded sculptures and masks. It will include work by a selection of outstanding Huichol artists, each representing a different strand of contemporary Huichol art. The artists to be shown will include Alejandro, from Santa Catarina in the Sierra Madre, who, as a jicarero, belongs to a select group in his community responsible for the organisation of all the group’s ritual activities. His proximity to the mara'akame, or shaman, attests to the exceptional purity of the symbolism found in his potent work; Mariano Valadez, the son of a shaman, who, adopted and raised by a Mexican family, started to incorporate outside influences into his work. Together with his wife, Susanna Valadez, he founded the Huichol Cultural Centre in Santiago, Nayarit, and is one of the leading 'interpreters' of Huichol culture to the outside world; and the artist Mota Aopohua, living and working in Mexico City, whose work portrays the increasing complexity of contemporary yarn painting. Aopohua was recently commissioned to create and install a large beaded mural that is now in place outside the Louvre in Paris. The exhibition will also include work by José Benitez Sanchez.