Saints, Sinners + Sacred Spaces
Devotional Folk Art From Latin America

An exhibition of contemporary and historical 
devotional folk art from Latin America

March 22 - May 20, 2001
Curated by Beate Echols
 

co-sponsored by CELA, ALAS, Modern Languages Department, and supported 
in part by UNITAS and a Social Events Grant.
 

In communities all over Latin America, Catholic feast days are marked by processions featuring elaborate wooden platforms -andas- on which village saints, decorated with feathers and floral arches, are carried through the streets by members of religious brotherhoods - cofradias. they are accompanied by musicians, a following of cofradia members, and the general public.

 
Vigin of the Ascension 
early 20th century
Guatemala
wood, paint
23" x 10" x 6"

Anda - Processional Paltform
early 20th century
Guatemala
wood
29" x 67" x 24"

In Guatemala as elsewhere, many masked dance dramas were adapted to Christian themes in the wake of the conquest. The Dance of the Devils, mixing pre-Hispanic with Christian elements, centers on the story of Lucifer, depicting the struggle between devils and angels, or good and evil. Performed since early colonial times, it was often banned by the Catholic church because of its pagan features. The deer and the jaguar, sacred animals to many indigenous groups in Mexico and Central America for thousands of years, are honored in the Guatemala's Deer Dance, an ancient form of nature worship, and a hunting ritual. In modern times, it is often dedicated to a village patron saint and performed on a Catholic feast day.

Jaguar Dance Mask
20th century
Guatemala
wood, paint, accessory materials
10" x 5" x 7"

The feast day of Corpus Christi, combining Catholic ritual with pre-hispanic elements, provides a splendid occasion for costume makers in highland Ecuador to fashion elaborate head dresses, banners, and costumes for dancers in traditional processions. A typical headdress features a vriaty of shiny objects and discardred materials.

Corpus Christi Headdress
c.1950
central Ecuador
jewelry fragments, gold and silver foil, mirrors, old coins, feathers, plastic dolls, beads, animal figures, and other found material
30" x 24" x 4"

An important spirit/god in the Afro-Brasilian pantheon, Exu is a transatlantic adaptation of the Yoruba deity Eshu-Elegba or Legba. A sexually ambivalent figure, he/she rules the crossroads of life, open or closes doors, serves as the trickster, and functions as the messenger goes who transmits a petitioner's wishes to other deities. Exu sculpture, forged of iron or other metals by specially initiated ferramenteiros or metalsmiths, are ubiquitous in Brazilian candomle offerings and part of many altars created to reach a particular god. Specifically composed food offerings, placed in prescribed locations, such as a sacred altar ground or a crossroads location, are part of any ritual to appeal to Exu's powers.

Exu
by Jose Adario dos Santos
c.1990
Salvador, Brazil
iron
20" x 10 1/2" x 4"