The Arts and the Sacred in Native America: A Lecture by Nadema Agard
Event on 2011-01-27 10:00:00 at Inwood Hill Park
218th and Indian RoadNew York, United States
Event Description
This interdisciplinary and multimedia presentation explores the arts as vehicles of power, as vehicles of visual language, and as sacred repositories of the cosmic knowledge of symbols and colors from an Indigenous perspective where life and arts are interconnected. This presentation will employ images of traditional and contemporary artwork, in addition to video clips, music, and literary references.
It will include a discussion of sacred architecture and geometry, the importance of visions and dreams in the development of art forms, sacred art as visual prayers and vehicles for healing, the healing aspect of humor and the sacredness of clowns, the protective qualities of certain clothing, and the power of medicine bundles, dolls, and funerary objects. Examples of art by modern Native people will exemplify the importance of the continuity of a spiritual aesthetic.
This program, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities’ Speakers in the Humanities program.
About Nadema Agard: Ms. Agard is the Director of Red Earth Studio Consulting/Productions, Nadema Agard (Cherokee/Lakota/Powhatan) is an artist, illustrator, published author, scholar, curator, speaker, museum professional and consultant in Repatriation and Multicultural/Native American arts and cultures. With a B.S. degree in Art Education from New York University, and an M.A. degree in Arts and Education from Teacher's College, Columbia University, she is a former Museum Professional of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
The Nature Center is wheelchair accessible.
