On the same trip to Taos for the Taos Wools Festival and my tapestry workshop, I made a quick trip to Santa Fe to see the Horizons show at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. The show is titled Horizons: Weaving Between the Lines with Diné Textiles. I had previously acquired the catalog for the show and knew I had to see it in person.

As I pulled up to the museum on a Sunday morning, I heard singing and then saw the dancers. What a wonderful addition to the trip to the museum. These were Apache tribal members.

Apache tribal members dancing at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe

Horizon’s show

I won’t give away the entire show here, but there are exquisite examples of historic Diné textiles alongside contemporary work in textiles as well as photography and video. The work chosen for the show from the museum collection spans hundreds of years of Navajo woven history. The team of contemporary artists and scholars who worked together in the archives of various museums have included their comments about the work in the show and in the catalog. Reading the thoughts and historic background from contemporary weavers about these textiles is a powerful way to place them in the context of what happened to the Diné people and how their artwork came to be what it is today.

The entrance panel to the show shows Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly which is near Chinle, AZ on the Navajo reservation.

Horizons catalog cover. Illustration is *Woven Landscape: Monument Valley, 2023.* Darby Rayomnd-Overstreet. Mixed media: Digital collage of scanned Navajo textiles and photography.

Contemporary weavers represented in the show are Kevin Aspaas, Tyrrell Tapaha, Roy Kady, Michael Teller Orneles, Lynda Teller Pete, and Barbara Teller Ornelas. The show also includes the photography work of Rapheal Begay and Darby Raymond-Overstreet. Laura Tohe’s poetry is included in the show and in the catalog.

The show also includes work of some late 20th century weavers, common weaving tools both contemporary and historic, and information about dyes used by the contemporary weavers.

It is important to note how the historic weavings are designated. They’re all labeled as “Artist once known (Diné).” This is a powerful thing to read and contemplate as you look at the work.

I’d like to show you some images from the show. These are all snapshots I took myself with my cell phone in museum lighting so I apologize that they may not always do the textile justice. All the textiles except the first one were behind glass which means the photographs are not always clear. I’ve chosen the best ones to show you with as many details as I could include.

The 1885 pictorial blanket below is the one piece there was a video about. I enjoyed hearing the team of artists discussion the blanket in the video which is a bonus if you go see the show!

Artist once known (Diné), Pictorial Blanket, ca. 1885 (detail), Germantown wool yarn, cotton string, handspun wool, bayeta

The two textiles below are a Third Phase Chief Blanket (l) and a Second Phase Chief Blanket (r).

To the left, Third Phase Chief Blanket, 1875-1880, Artist once known (Diné). Handspun wool, indigo dye, vegetal dye, 55.25 × 65 inches.
To the right, Second Phase Chief Blanket, 1850-1865. Artist once known (Diné). Handspun wool, indigo, dye, bayeta, commercial wool yarn, 38 × 50 inches.

I was quite captivated by the textile in the front of this grouping on the slant board. I think I loved the subtle color shifts with the cutbacks when I saw it in the catalog and I was pleased to see it in the show. The black border is woven in.

Textile in front is: Textile, c. 1960, Artist once known (Diné). Wool, 48.25 × 31 inches.

The textile in the center in the above photo was another interesting one to see in person I think because it appeared so worn. We’re used to seeing textiles in shows being pristine though of course historic textiles often do show the ravages of time. This one seemed to have been used well and I liked that. It is: Artist once known (Diné), Shoulder blanket or saddle blanket (detail), 1825-1869, detail below.

Artist once known (Diné), Shoulder blanket or saddle blanket (detail), 1825-1869

Contemporary Diné work

The contemporary artists in the show all had stunning work. All these textiles were finely woven by master craftsmen. Some of these artists are still very young, others have many decades of weaving experience.

This piece by Barbara Teller Ornelas is one of the first tapestries you see when you enter the gallery and it will blow you away. Barbara is a well-known and skilled weaver from the Two Grey Hills area of Diné Bikéyah. You may know Barbara and her sister Lynda Teller Pete from their outstanding books (reviewed HERE and HERE) and their frequent teaching around the country and particularly to Diné youth. They’re also frequently found doing curatorial and museum work, lecturing, and writing about Diné textiles and history. And, as you’ll see when you go see this show, their weaving is astoundingly precise, detailed, elegant, and so beautiful.

There is an interview in the catalog with Kevin Aspaas, a young contemporary tapestry weaver. His wedge weave tapestry in the show is another well worth traveling to see. Aspaas is an expert on wedge weave. He also creates beautiful biil (traditional dresses) for family and has woven many sash belts as well. His skill with wedge weave is evident when you see the image of his tapestry, Horned Toad and Lightening in the catalog. In that piece he uses twill weave in a wedge weave pattern (that tapestry not included in the show).

Tyrrell Tapaha is another young contemporary Diné weaver featured in this show. There is an interview with him in the catalog. He has a two-panel dress in the show.

“This two-panel dress was inspired by the beautiful San Pete Valley in Utah, which has become a home away from home. This dress is supposed to be viewed on an east-west axis, with the mountain scene in the front—Mt. Nebo—facing the west rim of the valley. The design follows a theme of the natural world present in our lives—the break and coexistence between Mother Earth and Father Sky. The bottom of the dress represents the colors and warmth of our Mother and her expansiveness. The top represents the free and near-electric energy of Father Sky. I was blessed to weave most of this project within the bounds of San Pete Valley. I wanted to commemorate that chapter in my life and bring those blessings wherever the dress goes.”

— Tyrrell Tapaha

There were artists included in the show who were working in photography and video. The cover of the catalog pictured above is an image by Darby Ramond-Overstreet (Diné, b. 1994). There were images of Ramond-Overstreet’s work included in the show. In the catalog there are some images of the work displayed as if they were weavings within looms along with an essay by Darby. I find this work fascinating and was drawn to this catalog in part because of the image on the cover.

I have included just a few of the tapestries in this show. Please go see it or get a copy of the catalog to learn more.

Summary

In summary, this show is very much worth a visit. If you can’t make it to the show, the beautiful and well-done catalog is second best. I really appreciated being able to study the textiles up close in person and there are not details in the catalog that allow this level of scrutiny. Seeing the exquisitely fine weaving of Barbara Teller Ornelas and Lynda Teller Pete for example is not something you can understand from photographs. It was marvelous to realize Barbara’s son and Lynda’s nephew Michael’s work is also in the show and is also expertly woven.

The catalog

The catalog for this show is beautiful. It has excellent images and the essays and interviews of and by many of the artists in the show are a wonderful window into the work and its grounding in Diné culture.

You can go and see this show until February 2, 2025. Find more information on the museum website HERE.

The catalog is:

Jensen, H.W. (ed) (2024). Horizons: Weaving Between the Lines with Diné Textiles. Santa Fe, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

You can purchase your copy HERE or at the museum when you go see the show.

What follows are a few images from the catalog.

Table of contents for the Horizons catalog

The Art of Resistance

In her essay, The Art of Resistance, Lynda Teller Pete discusses the ways that Navajo textiles have been identified by museums and tells about how she and the team of artists and scholars from this show experienced the historic textiles they were looking at. Many of the weavers were enslaved and there would be signs of resistance woven into the piece such as a Spider Woman cross from the textile on the pages pictured here. Lynda tells the story of enslavement and centuries of appalling treatment of the Diné people. The essay discusses how these events impacted the historic weavings in the show (and elsewhere) and the imperative for contemporary Diné weavers to remember and carry forward the woven results of enslavement, captivity, boarding schools, stock reduction, and abuse from the Spanish and American military and citizens from 1492 until 1980. I think few would argue that the effects of these events and policies echo throughout America today.

It is a powerful thing to read Lynda’s words in the catalog and in the show and to connect them to the textiles right in front of you. The way this team of artist/scholars are able to describe the stories behind textiles, some of which are hundreds of years old, is fascinating. Understanding where forms in the tapestries come from, where the yarn and dyes likely came from, and why certain motifs were probably woven is well worth some study.

“Diné weaving is a testament to our connections across the timeline of history to the present day. The varied skill levels of the artists and the stories that could be unraveled in the designs aid in our own quest for excellence in weaving artistry. We are able to identify the beginnings of certain styles and the woven results, originating perhaps in communal living or close relations, that bind our continuing weaving traditions with the innovation of individual artistry. And we are able to see the outcomes of forced assimilation expressed in the creations of enslaved or indentured weavers, which communicate Diné resilence and survivance.”

— Lynda Teller Pete

Lynda gives us a feeling even in this relatively short essay (p78-89) about why and how Diné weavers’ patterns changed. Lynda’s own work is featured on page 87 of the catalog and if you can see the show, please go study Migration of Dragonflies in detail. Lynda and her sister Barbara’s ability is astounding and the fineness of the weave and the gorgeous patterning is thrilling. I will resist the urge to quote this essay in depth and encourage you to get a copy of the catalog and read it for yourself. Thank you Lynda.

Diné Weavings

Horizons catalog essay by Jennifer Nez Denetdale

In her essay about Diné weavings, Diné curator and scholar, Jennifer Nez Denetdale talks about how understanding the history of the Diné is needed to appreciate “the continuity of weaving.”

“Horizons offers a unique glimpse into the Diné world, a world that Diné bring into being through thought and practice. The textiles selected from the museum’s vast collection offer space to reflect on the history of Diné weaving. Considered in conversation with textiles created by contemporary weavers, they not only illuminate long-standing practices but offer hope that someday we Diné will become the target audience and will reincorporate these textiles into everyday use.”

— Jennifer Nez Denetdale in her closing essay

After seeing the show and reading the catalog, I was left with a much deeper understanding of how history impacted the woven textiles I’ve been looking at in museums, rug auctions, and rug rooms across the American Southwest my whole life. This nacent understanding of history + resulting art is outlined well in this show and I encourage you to get the catalog, read the essays and interviews, and spend some time visiting the show and thinking about how these marvelous textiles came to be.

Horizons show in Santa Fe