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| DARRYL
MONTANA |
SITE
SANTA FE PRESENTS PERFORMANCE BY DARRYL MONTANA AND THE MARDI GRAS INDIAN GANG
WITH A DISCUSSION WITH MONTANA, WILLIAM FAGALY, AND MAURICE M. MARTINEZ SATURDAY,
OCTOBER 20, 2001
Santa Fe, NM - In conjunction with its Fourth International Biennial exhibition,
Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitanism, SITE Santa Fe
is pleased to present a performance by Darryl Montana and members of the Yellow
Pocahontas "Hunters" Mardi Gras Indian Tribe on Saturday, October 20, 2001 at
2 pm. The event will begin with a screening of Maurice Martinez's highly acclaimed
film, The Black Indians of New Orleans (1976). Following the screening,
William Fagaly will give a slide lecture on the Montana family, after which
the performance will take place. The event is part of the Art & Culture
series. General Admission, $5; students, seniors, and SITE Santa Fe Members
at Friend and Family levels, $2.50; SITE Santa Fe Members at Supporter level
and above, Free.
Darryl Montana, son and successor of Big Chief Allison Montana of the
Yellow Pocahontas "Hunters" Mardi Gras Indian Tribe, is heir to a rich and visually
stunning tradition that originated in New Orleans in the 19th century. While
the exact origins of the Mardi Gras Indian culture are vague, the historical
record documents that African-American citizens of New Orleans were parading
in Indian costuming by the late 1880s. Numerous tribes have since emerged from
the Crescent City's black neighborhoods to display their remarkable handmade
finery and engage in percussion-driven chants during Mardi Gras. The Mardi Gras
Indian "gangs" display not only their singing and dancing talents, but also
their exquisite hand-beaded and feathered suits. The suits are influenced by
Aztec design elements and African beading traditions, and they originated as
a way for African Americans to stage subtle protests against white repression
and violence. Through the costume detailing and song lyrics, New Orleans's black
culture found a way to stage a skillful revolution through art. SITE Santa Fe's
biennial exhibition includes three of Darryl Montana's meticulously crafted
and wildly colored costumes made using feathers, beads, and sequins.
Maurice M. Martinez, Ph.D. is a New Orleans-born poet, photographer,
musician, and filmmaker, as well as a professor in the Department of Specialty
Studies at the University of North Carolina -- Wilmington. He has written numerous
articles about the Mardi Gras Indians, and his award-winning film documentary,
The Black Indians of New Orleans (1976), has received international acclaim.
Martinez earned his BS at Xavier University in New Orleans, and his MA and Ph.D.
degrees at the University of Michigan -- Ann Arbor. He received a Ford Foundation
grant to undertake two years of research in Brazil for a program titled "Internships
in Latin American Education," which was administered by the University of New
Mexico.
William Fagaly has been a curator at the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA)
for over 35 years and has organized over 70 exhibitions for that museum. In
1997 he was appointed the Fran¨oise Billion Richardson Curator of African Art
at NOMA. Fagaly has served as a guest curator at many museums and has published
extensively on African art. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including
a Fellowship for Museum Professionals from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Fagaly is also the founder of NOMA's Friends of Contemporary Art and Friends
of Ethnographic Art. He organized "He's the Prettiest": A Tribute to Big
Chief Allison "Tootie" Montana's 50 Years of Mardi Gras Indian Suiting at
NOMA in 1997.
SITE Santa Fe's Art & Culture series is partially supported by The Brown
Foundation, Inc., Houston, Lannan Foundation, Madelin Coit and Alan Levin, Bobbie
Foshay-Miller and Chuck Miller, and Marlene Nathan Meyerson.
Concurrent with this event is SITE Santa Fe's Fourth International Biennial
exhibition, entitled Beau Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitanism,
curated by Dave Hickey, on view through January 6, 2002. |
 Darryl Montana
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