Exhibition Status: Currently Available

Dancing With Life: Mexican Masks

Dancing With Life: Mexican Masks

Dancing with Life: Mexican Masks invites audiences to explore the rich festival culture of Mexico through historic and contemporary masks from the collection of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.  The exhibition centers the work of the mask makers and dancers themselves through written and recorded interviews, including bilingual Spanish and English texts. This approach invites visitors to appreciate danzas as expressions of contemporary living culture, in which symbols and scripts from pop culture and religious narratives coalesce into explorations of spiritual matters, political issues, and community life.

International Arts & Artists is honored to be working with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture and curator, Dr. Pavel Shlossberg. Commonly referred to as the “MAC,” the museum preserves and cultivates the heritage of the Inland Northwest people through collections, exhibitions, and programs that bring their stories to life. Dr. Shlossberg is the associate dean in the School of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University. As a young scholar, Pavel had the privilege to live with and learn from mask artists in Tocuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. His continuing collaboration with artists in Michoacán has shaped his work critiquing academic and museum approaches to framing and representing Mexican Indigenous masking practices in Mexico and internationally.

Please contact TravelingExhibitions@ArtsandArtists.org for more information.

 

Finding Queertopia: Self Realization and the Spaces that Shape Us

Finding Queertopia: Self-Realization and the Spaces that Shape Us

In a world that is constantly evolving, Finding Queertopia serves as a celebration of the diverse and resilient LGBTQ+ community, exploring the myriad of ways individuals navigate the path to self-realization within the context of their surroundings. The exhibition brings together work by more than 20 artists to collectively explore the multifaceted dimensions of queer identity, tracing the intersections of personal growth, societal acceptance, and the significance of physical and metaphorical spaces.

Home, once oppressive or transient, transforms into a site of radical self-discovery—a refuge for free expression and a hub for forging connections with chosen family. Beyond domestic realms, queer people find home in the spaces that provide safety, validation and a sense of belonging: queering a space by inhabiting it. 

Finding Queertopia: Self-Realization and the Spaces that Shape Us begins with an introspective exploration of the self, featuring thought-provoking artworks that encapsulate the essence of self-discovery. Visitors will encounter pieces that delve into the struggles, triumphs, and transformations that mark the journey of queer individuals as they navigate their identities, grapple with societal expectations, and ultimately embrace their true selves. Moving beyond the personal, the exhibition unfolds to showcase the dynamic interplay between queerness and the spaces we inhabit.

International Arts & Artists is honored to be working with curator, Gemma Rolls-Bentley, to bring this exhibition to life. Gemma Rolls-Bentley has been at the forefront of contemporary art for almost two decades, working passionately to champion diversity in the field. Curating exhibitions and building art collections internationally, her curatorial practice amplifies the work of female and queer artists as well as providing  a platform for art that explores LGBTQ+ identity. Finding Queertopia: Self-Realization and the Spaces that Shape Us will tour for four years, until Fall 2029, and is now open for bookings.

 

Please contact TravelingExhibitions@ArtsandArtists.org for more information.

 

Kimono: Garment, Canvas, and Artistic Muse

Kimono: Garment, Canvas, and Artistic Muse

The Japanese kimono is one of the world’s most admired garments—an instantly recognizable robe with a tall “T” form. Worn in Japan by women and men for well over 1,000 years, the kimono has been a canvas for spectacular woven, dyed, painted, printed, and embroidered designs by Japan’s textile artists. After the late nineteenth century, when Japan opened to foreign diplomacy and trade, kimonos also became beloved in the West, as subjects for painters and inspiration for fashion designers. In recent decades, the influence of the kimono has even reached the work of contemporary artists around the world, who are creating kimono-inspired works in such diverse media as paper, fiber, metal, glass, and ceramic. This exhibition will explore the kimono as a garment in Japanese history and culture, present it as canvas for spectacular design and messaging, and showcase the extraordinary works of ten international contemporary artists whose works of painting, sculpture, and fiber art have all been inspired in fascinating ways by this iconic garment. 

Kimono: Garment, Canvas, and Artistic Muse is organized in three sections and and contains a total of 46 art works, including 20 kimonos, woodblocks prints, a woodblock printed book, and photographs, as well as 19 works of contemporary art made of paper, fiber, metal, ceramic and glass.

International Arts & Artists is honored to be working with curator and long-time partner, Meher McArthur, to bring this exhibition to life. Meher McArthur is an Asian art historian specializing in Japanese art, with degrees from Cambridge University and London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), along with 25 years experience curating exhibitions, publishing, and teaching about Asian art. Kimono: Garment, Canvas, and Artistic Muse will tour for four years, until Summer 2029, and is now open for bookings.

 

Please contact TravelingExhibitions@ArtsandArtists.org for more information.