Announcing "Taos Pueblo: Ancestral Places, Sacred Spaces," a One-Man Show by Wings.

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Beginning Tuesday, April 15, and running through May 11, the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe, New Mexico will host a one-man art show by Wings.

The exhibit's theme is Taos Pueblo:  Ancestral Places, Sacred Spaces, and it explores the identity of Taos Pueblo from an insider's perspective through Wings's chosen media: photography and sterling silver. The show features ten photographs of Taos Pueblo's classic architecture and iconography, presented in a wholly different way. Instead of concentrating on the famed multi-level houses ubiquitous in photos everywhere, Wings brings the existential details into focus:

There is so much more to our ancestral lands, our sacred spaces, that people never see. Some of that is purposeful:  Our traditions require privacy and secrecy, and there is much that is not available to outsiders. But even in the public areas of the Pueblo, what visitors see and what I see are two very different things. 

With this exhibition, I would like to take you on a journey  I want to show you what I see, feel what I feel —  the sights and sounds and smells and sensations of this place, this land, that has embedded in my blood and bone and that of my people for more than a millennium . . . . 

Come with me.  Let me show you this earth, this sky, this light that is wholly a part of me.

Interpretive text will accompany the photos to provide context for viewers.

Complementing the photography, the show will also feature several of Wings's sterling silver Indian jewelry showpieces, each with its own accompanying narrative. 

During the month of the exhibition, the Cocteau will feature numerous film screenings, concerts, and book signings, including events for such diverse and famed authors as Junot Díaz and Anne Perry.

A retrospective of the art from the show will eventually be made available online.

The Jean Cocteau Cinema is owned by renowned author George R.R. Martin and Parris McBride Martin. We are indebted to them for this honor and this opportunity. We also owe special thanks to Raya Golden and Jeff Berg, and particularly to Sam Haozous, for facilitating this entire project.



Copyright Ajijaakwe, 2014; all rights reserved.