WITH DAVID CLOUTIER
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SFR: You're the new director of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts and you're in the thick of preparing for Santa Fe's biggest event, Indian Market. How's it going?
DC:
It's a big project and it's probably one of the more complex weekend [Aug. 20-21] art shows in the world with 1,200 artists and 650 booths in what is essentially a free downtown art festival. It's a big commitment to all those artists, many of whom make most of their annual income just on this one show. It's also the kind of thing that creates an economic engine for the city.
Santa Fe just recently identified arts and culture as its primary economic driver. Is that kind of a 'well, duh' moment?
Yeah, it is a bit of a 'duh,' but it's a good thing to recognize. Beyond the galleries, which are a rich source of art, events such as our own and Spanish Market create a real public profile. The International Folk Art Market rides the same wave, though Indian Market is more about the indigenous art of the area, and the city building its sense of self around what is really native to Santa Fe is important. It's hard living where housing prices are escalating and you want to retain a vital creative art scene in the face of the SoHo effect, where it becomes the domain of wealthy people and artists can no longer participate. Indian Market is really working to stabilize prospects for emerging artists, to be vital enough to provide those opportunities.
There are downtown merchants who feel that Indian Market is too vital, that it's so big it detracts from the Plaza.
I think that's an issue for a small number but that most businesses would tell you that Indian Market is a big dollar sign for them. There have been some issues around visibility of storefronts and those can be mitigated. We're happy to work with everyone to make sure the show doesn't interfere with other people. At the same time, this is a signature event and it really does belong in the historic heart of the city. Native people have been coming to this place for long before the Spanish to exchange goods. I see Indian Market as a contemporary iteration of that ancient situation.
Who is the audience for that situation now? Serious collectors? T-shirt tourists?
I think there's a little tent and a big tent so to speak. Serious collectors will come to the market and spend a fair amount of money. But it's also a place where you can walk around all day for free and see this fabulous art and talk with artists from all over. That interchange of appreciation and perception creates cultural understanding which is really the key to the future and there's no better way than through the arts.
Some Native artists feel the allowed cultural expression is very narrow and that Market doesn't allow for the innovation and many materials that have historically characterized Native art.
That is an issue that's been brought to my attention. We do have a very articulated set of standards; however, I don't believe the intention is to freeze things in time or to encapsulate a certain style. My commitment for the future is an open-ended situation where emerging artists will feel this is the place for them, not just for old timers or traditional styles. We don't want to impose an aesthetic.
What about imposing identity? Does a big event like this typecast people as "Native artists?"
Well, that's an issue too and maybe it's one of self-definition. This particular presentation is meant to showcase Native American art; however, an artist is an artist. Fritz Scholder self-identified as a Native artist much of the time but at other times tended to recess that because he really did want to be taken on his own terms as a creative person. I don't think we're trying to capture people in their Native identity, but it is the Indian Market and it is one way for an artist to present themselves.
But do you think that it's such an enticing financial opportunity that it limits the expression of young artists making what they know will sell rather what their hearts desire?
There are Native artists working in more advanced forms, but we're also interested in supporting continuity and tradition. There are many families handing down techniques specific to particular pueblos or tribes and those we regard as precious. At the same time, we're contemporary people and there's every reason to support freedom of expression and the breaking of tradition as well. We're looking at this whole issue and we don't want to close the door to the future. Even traditions need to be reinvented and reinterpreted.
Why is the Market confined, somewhat ironically, to borders relative to the United States?
There's the idea that Native people are without boundaries and, really, I can't help but agree. But if we decided to have Canadian artists there would be no reason to exclude those from south of the border and we would tap out our capacity to have this show here. At present it's hard to get a hotel room on that weekend and I can only imagine if it was the world indigenous art show. We're not philosophically opposed to an open border but given our current situation in time/space it's ruled out.
Your predecessor was not here long. Is it a burn-out job?
It could be. This is a precious event with a venerable history. There's a lot of pressure and opportunity for flare ups. My own sense is to be a stabilizer, a harmonizer and, to a degree, reform things and move the organization into the future.
You appear to be a white guy. How harmonious has that been?
Well, I've always regarded myself as a world citizen. But, it does create some need to bridge things with some people. I operate from the heart and attempt to communicate directly with people from all kinds of backgrounds.
