Water, wind, breath : Southwest Native art in the Barnes Foundation / edited by Lucy Fowler Williams ; with texts by Tony R. Chavarria, TahNibaa Naataanii, and Ken Williams Jr. ; and contributions by Robert Bauver and Laurie D. Webster.

Philadelphia, PA : The Barnes Foundation, [2022]

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press

©2022

viii, 211 pages : color illustrations, color map, portraits ; 30 cm

"Published on the occasion of the exhibition 'Water, wind, breath: Southwest Native Art in Community', organized by [and held at] the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, February 20-May 15, 2022."--Colophon.

This richly illustrated book makes the Barnes Foundation's exceptional collection of Native American art from the Southwest available to the public for the first time. Collector and educator Albert C. Barnes traveled to the U.S. Southwest in 1930 and 1931 and, deeply impressed by the generative art practices he saw there, formed a collection of Pueblo and Navajo pottery, textiles, and jewelry. "Water, Wind, Breath" illuminates the materials, forms, and designs of the objects as they relate to Pueblo and Navajo histories and ideas. The book blends postcolonial and Indigenous perspectives, introducing readers to living artistic traditions filled with purpose, intention, and a deeply embedded spirituality that connects places, practices, and Native identities. Works by contemporary Native American artists are juxtaposed with historic pieces, illuminating the connections between heritage traditions and modern practices.

English

October 11, 2022

Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-201) and index.