Summary
A glowing full moon presides over a subtly rendered scene: four ravens flying across shapes that symbolize the ice and fog of the long Arctic night. Ramona Sakiestewa created the design for a 1,500- square-foot curtain that will fill the main-theater stage at the Smithsonian Institution's new National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, D.C. Artisans at a shop in Kyoto, Japan, that specializes in producing curtains for Kabuki theater should have the piece finished in March.
The curtain art is one of many projects Sakiestewa completed for the $219 million museum, which opened Sept. 21 on the National Mall. Her projects include designs for a stunning, woven-copper wall; for sun- and moon-themed works in stone; and, for the elevators, bird designs inspired by the ancient Mound Builder culture. She also selected all the fabrics for the five-story building.See the full content of this document
Extract
Ramona Sakiestewa: Weaving Native Stories
The piece for the theater, which has a decor reflecting the Native cultures of Alaska and northwestern Canada, shows the mind and heart of the Hopi artist renowned for her woven tapestries. "The curtain design is based on the Arctic and on Inupiat colors -- a rust and many shades of gray," Sakiestewa said. "The theater is about nighttime storytelling, so here's the moon; and I used four ravens for the four directions. The raven in many cultures is t...
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