Understanding Cultures Through Art

By: Natalie Venegas

To some artists, their work can be a form of self-expression, but for others it is a way to transmit a message to the public about understanding different cultures.

For Will Wilson, a Native American photographer, Norma Martinez, an Indigenous painter and Angela Tapia, a Quechua researcher using art to showcase their culture is crucial and is a necessary step to open up a dialogue about their roots.

Leading up to the celebration of Indigenous People’s Day on Oct. 8, the Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) program at the University of Texas at Austin held an Indigenous Arts Fest at UT’s Patton Hall three days before the holiday. The art exhibition, part of a NAIS initiative implemented in fall 2017, was put into place to help start a dialogue about recognizing these cultures as well as making Indigenous artists visible to the public.

Spanish and Portuguese graduate student Jessica Sanchez worked with other students to help start the initiative and said it is important to bring awareness to campus about issues not widely discussed, especially considering as of 2016 UT has a 0.2 percent Native American student population.

“A lot of our student population think that the Indigenous culture is ancient –– that it no longer exists,” Sanchez said, referencing some students’ skepticism around the Indigenous culture. “That motivated me to start and be a part of the initiative and make the event around Indigenous People’s Day.”

The exhibition’s artwork showcased to students stemmed from both the Native American and Indigenous cultures. Wilson, a photographer from San Francisco, California had his photographs on display. As part of the Diné community, a community of Navajo Nation people, he spent his formative years living in the Navajo Nation. His work reflects his experience as well as the historical and cultural aspects of Native American people.

Using his photographs, Wilson expressed the changes the Navajo Nation has seen throughout the years. A series of artworks entitled “Auto Immune Response” depicts a Navajo man in a beautiful, but toxic environment trying to survive in this futuristic Navajo environment. Wilson states that this series shows the transformation of Indigenous life and how there is a sudden economical and agricultural change that is occurring.

“The reason I use these environments is to guide the viewer and in some way, defend the people depicted in the photographs,” Wilson said. “The viewer has to feel like they are surrounded by the Native American environment in order to understand these changes.”

In addition to Wilson’s photographs, Martinez displayed many of her paintings from over the years. She is a painter from Veracruz, Mexico and is part of the Nahua community, Nahu refers to a group of Indigenous people from Mexico. Martinez said her artwork represents the people of Nahua and her community as well as incorporating her own experiences in the Nahua life.

“I would like to share and I would like to spread my knowledge of my people and let others know that we have value,” Martinez said. “We have a lot of knowledge to offer the world that we need to convey.”

As Martinez shared her artwork, she expressed the role art has played in her life. She remarked how extremely important her artwork is because she knows how much discrimination her people have faced.

“As the indigenous people started to migrate to the cities, we were poorly received,” Martinez said. “We were discriminated against as if we did not matter, like we had no value or worth and had nothing to offer. But we do.”

In order to express the traditions and culture of the Nahua people through art, she pulls from real experiences of the Nahua community. Martinez said much of her artwork displayed the Nahua community’s longtime love of nature.

“The paintings show a connection with nature,” Martinez said. “For us it is very important, because nature gives us life and energy. We live in harmony with nature, because we harvest food that grows in the wilderness.”

Martinez ended her exhibition and expressed that she hopes to see her culture flourish and for the Nahua people to thrive. She hopes others see the Nahua community and acknowledge that they have worth and should feel respected.

“I would like to invite my fellow native people to join me in spreading our knowledge, to stand up and say that we are people of value, worth and honor,” Martinez said. “We have been made to feel worthless, but we are not.”

Natalie Venegas is a third-year journalism student from El Paso, Texas. You can follow her on Twitter @nataliezz_24