Question

what are your thoughts on Native American art? If you were the dorector of a museum, how would you explain snd display indigenious objects?

Answer 1

The particular utilitarian form that Native American arts take often reflects the social organization of the cultures involved. Political and military societies seem to have found their major art forms in the world of weaponry, regalia, and panoply. The aim of the Indian artist was not merely to set down realistic records but to create the semi-magical designs so common in the art of non-Western cultures.Native Americans often attach names to designs, largely for convenience. Viewers may be confused when an Indian calls a given design a leaf or an arrowhead, when what he actually means is that the design is leaf like or leaf-shaped and so on. But the non-Indian immediately translates this to mean that the design signifies a leaf or an arrowhead and tries to impart a narrative to the overall visual concept that is not relevant to the original artist’s work. Cultural Survival is concerned with the struggles of indigenous peoples. The wide variety of museums and their differing roles and resulting styles presents an initial problem. For years arguments have raged about whether the material culture of non-western peoples should be viewed in primarily a scientific or an aesthetic light. These views reflect curators' attitudes towards non-western people.The primitive artist works in a tradition and does not use his skills or art as personal vehicle for the expression of his own emotions and reactions.Indigenous peoples often tried their best to preserve their sacred objects and to protect the graves of their ancestors. But most communities were unable to stop the plunder.On the heels of the civil rights movement, Native Americans began to more publicly renounce museums for stealing their heritage. Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic traditions of the indigenous peoples of the Americasfrom ancient times to the present. Stereotypes persist when discussing Native American arts and cultures, and sadly many people remain unaware of the complicated and fascinating histories of Native peoples and their art. Native American is used here because people are most familiar with this term, yet we must be aware of the problems it raises.