From small beads and mirrors to sculpted works, people work with glass all over the world. The Museum of International Folk Art presents a selection of glass works and works with glass from the collection. The display will be on view in Lloyd’s Treasure Chest this summer.

Face masks have become daily attire for people around the world. More than a Personal Protective Device that keeps ourselves and others safe, face masks have become a creative outlet for many. They are representations of self-expression, political stance, fashion, and a symbol of humanity’s hope and care for one another. This exhibition is an ode to the face mask, and to the artists and every day citizens making their way through the COVID-19 crisis.

In 2020, the new strain of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, shocked and consumed our world. Masks became a new part of our daily attire, and concepts such as social distancing and quarantine became part of our routine.

Historically, masks have been used for ritual, ceremony, community identity, and also for protection. Face coverings as a protective device emerged in society between 1347 and 1351 as the bubonic plague spread. Although face masks are not new to humanity, their joint use as a protective and expressive device has never been seen on such a large scale as we see today.

In this current pandemic, masks are representations of self-expression, political stance, fashion statements, and a symbol of humanity’s hope and care for one another. This exhibition is an ode to the mask, and to the artists and every day citizens making their way during the COVID-19 crisis.

(Santa Fe, New Mexico) – Opening December 8, 2019, and remaining on view through January 10, 2021, the Museum of International Folk Art presents, Yokai: Ghosts and Demons of Japan. Yokai are supernatural beings (like ghosts, demons, ogres, shapeshifters and monsters) and strange, unexplainable phenomena. Yokai gained popularity beyond religious contexts, beginning perhaps as early as the Muromachi period (1392-1573). These ghost and demon images have surfaced throughout Japanese history, and have even influenced modern entertainment and popular culture. The Museum of International Folk Art will be one of the first museums to present a large-scale yokai-centered exhibition in the United States.

Yokai imagery seen in modern circulation developed over the last 400 years, when woodblock printing became popular. Depictions of yokai, though often frightening, were also rendered in comical situations. Artists imagined what yokai creatures looked like by referencing folklore and verbal tales, creating a visual narrative. Scholars believe that the act of naming and rendering visuals of these strange beings gave the people a way to talk about shared experiences. This contributed to the spread and popularity of yokai and yokai stories.

As these supernatural images grew fashionable, artists featured yokai on garments, Samurai weaponry, toys, and as theatrical characters. Today’s pop culture exemplifies yokai’s influence and reach. Yokai figures serve as inspiration for many anime (animation) and manga (comics or graphic novel) characters.

Felicia Katz-Harris, MOIFA senior curator, discusses yokai’s modern influence. “While yokai are a big part of Japanese pop-culture right now, they have been a part of Japanese pop-culture as far back as the Edo period. It has been a lot of fun to research some of the Pokémon characters and see their connection to creatures featured in scrolls, such as the Hyakki Yagyo (“Night Parade of 100 Demons”), painted hundreds of years ago.

The exhibition will also highlight social issues as represented by particular stories. Certain kaidan or “ghost stories” feature female characters such as Okiku and Oiwa, who drove their male tormentors and /or murderers to insanity or suicide. Other examples include invading and conquering foreign peoples represented by demons and cannibals. Though the victors tell these narratives, the stories may reflect the vilifying or “othering” of marginalized voices by those in power.

The Museum of International Folk Art’s exhibit features scroll paintings, woodblock prints, and kimonos as well as costumes, puppets, and masks used in classical theatrical performances. In addition, the exhibit will include demon festivals such as the Ushioni festival of Uwajima, the Namahage festival of Oga, and recently-created Yokai Matsuri of Kyoto. Contemporary folk art includes works from master artists of Noh masks and Awa Ningnyo Jururi (puppets). While many of these items come from the existing permanent collection, the museum will collaborate with major institutions including the forthcoming Yumoto Koichi Memorial Yokai Museum opening this year in Miyoshi City (Hiroshima Prefecture).

The museum will also partner with artist Kono Junya of Kyoto-based art collective, Hyakuyōbako (“Box of 100 Yokai”) to create an immersive obake yashiki, (a Japanese-style ghost house). Obake yashiki may have been based on practices by Samurai in the time after the Warring States period (after 1600), who would prove their bravery by telling ghost stories and enduring a ghost house experience for as long as possible. This tradition informs current Japanese entertainment found in amusement parks and comes to MOIFA as an immersive “haunted house” within the exhibit. The museum will also collaborate with Hyakuyōbako to create a ghost storytelling feature.

The Museum of International Folk Art brings yokai to the United States so that audiences might glean insight and an appreciation for Japanese art and literature, as well as its influence on contemporary Japanese popular culture. Through Yokai: Ghosts and Demons of Japan, museum guests may contemplate what historic pop-culture looked like centuries ago, and why contemporary entertainment carried these supernatural figures into current media. Perhaps, like the people of 16th century Japan, today’s society still seeks to explain the strange and unknown pieces of the human experience.

Yokai: Ghosts and Demons of Japan is organized by Felicia Katz-Harris, senior curator and curator of Asian folk art.
In 2020, the new strain of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, shocked and consumed our world. Masks became a new part of our daily attire, and concepts such as social distancing and quarantine became part of our routine.

The Museum of International Folk Art invites the public to the opening exhibition Música Buena: Hispano Folk Music of New Mexico, a Camalache (gathering) and Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 6, 2019, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Camalache features live entertainment, food, hands-on activities for the entire family, and local vendors all celebrating the history and influence New Mexico’s music has on its culture.

The Camalache and Harvest Festival will be held at Milner Plaza on Museum Hill. The celebration opens with Los Matachines de Bernalillo dancing on the plaza at 1:00 p.m. with Cipriano Vigil and Family performing New Mexico folk music in the museum from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., followed by band Lone Piñon at 2:30 p.m. Throughout the afternoon, guests will have the opportunity to participate in a corn husk doll-making activity with Becky Dickens as Big Jim Farms of Corrales will roast and sell bags of fresh green chile. Herbalist and ethnobotanist, Tomás Enos of Milagro Herbs will provide information about different herbs and vend throughout the afternoon while the Museum of New Mexico women’s board provides refreshments.

The exhibition itself illustrates the collection of rites and traditions born of the many cultures present in New Mexico. Much of the state’s musical practices gleaned influence from those present in the seventeenth century. With the arrival of the Spaniards, so came their multicultural history, which included Roman, Visigoth, Celtic, Muslim, Sephardic, and Christian influences. New traditions formed in New Mexico as Spanish influences blended with regional, Native practices.

The state’s singular musical genres continue to influence modern styles while New Mexico’s small towns and pueblos continue older traditions with seasonal performances and plays. Co-curators Nicolasa Chávez and Cipriano Vigil bring these traditions, histories, and practices to MOIFA through objects, video, and sound, as well as live entertainment until the closing in Spring 2021.

Fiesta dress is encouraged but not required. Break out your vintage pieces or your version of fiesta dress from any culture to celebrate.Historically, masks have been used for ritual, ceremony, community identity, and also for protection. Face coverings as a protective device emerged in society between 1347 and 1351 as the bubonic plague spread. Although face masks are not new to humanity, their joint use as a protective and expressive device has never been seen on such a large scale as we see today.