Gallery of Conscience to Open at the Museum of International Folk Art in Conjunction with the Market

Monday, January 18, 2010

First Annual Exhibit Features the Art of International Women’s Cooperatives opens July 4th

Contact: Clare Hertel
505-474-6783

Folk Art Market artist Nurse Thembeni Mdluli distributing toothbrushes to a group of orphaned children in Nurse’s village in Swaziland. Santa Fe dentists, Drs. Parker and Martin, donated the toothbrushes to Nurse during her visit for the Market.

The Museum of International Folk Art’s new “Gallery of Conscience” opens July 4th, in conjunction with the 2010 International Folk Art Market, which runs from July 9 through July 11. The work of a number of women’s cooperatives will inaugurate the annual, themed exhibit. 

“As the largest folk art museum in the world, there is a responsibility to create a forum to discuss current issues that folk artists are facing around the world.  This Gallery of Conscience will be devoted to the examination of issues that threaten the survival of the traditional arts, bringing them to the attention of our visitors,” says Marsha Bol, Director of the Museum of International Folk Art. “We intend to address, over the course of the next few years, such issues as: the ecological implications of the acquisition of materials used in producing folk arts, the impact of political conflict and war on folk arts, and various economic and social issues that threaten to disrupt folk arts.  We will also exhibit examples of successful solutions to such circumstances.”

Suzanne K. Seriff, PhD, Chair of the Market’s Artist Selection Committee, will be the guest curator. Many of the cooperatives featured in the exhibit will have artist representatives at the “Gallery of Conscience” opening, as well as at the Market. These artists also will be part of a series of public education programs that will take place the week of the Market and are sponsored by the Museum.
“The Market has always been a supporter of cooperatives, recognizing their power to bring both cultural and economic sustainability to communities,” says Charlene Cerny, the Executive Director of SFIFAM. “Most of the cooperatives at the Market involve women. Studies, including Nicholas Kristof’s recent work featured in The New York Times, show that women are change agents in the developing world. Women’s artistic cooperatives have the extraordinary ability to improve the lives of the artists, their children, and their communities, while preserving cultural traditions.”

The 2009 Santa Fe International Folk Art Market featured work from more than 36 artist coops and similar organizations, representing, in total, more than 16,000 artists. Together, these artists’ sales and efforts have directly benefited more than 160,000 people in the artists’ communities.  Cooperatives at previous Markets have used profits from their sales to buy communal plow-animals and goats, build health clinics and schools, buy food and clothing, and provide college scholarships, among many other things.

The final selection of artists in the exhibit will be announced in February 2010.

The Museum of International Folk Art opened to the public in 1953 and has gained national and international recognition as home to the world’s largest collection of folk art.  In 2003 the Museum was one of the founding partners of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, which is now the largest event of its kind in the world.  The “Gallery of Conscience” will be open through January 2, 2011.