"I created more works in 2020 than almost ever. It was the best year for me yet in terms of exposure etc., hoping to keep that momentum. I’m not sure why that really is. I think I just had a lot of ideas that came to me. And I took more chances. I put extra efforts into promoting my work online and got a lot of exposure that way. There’s a lot of competition for an audience, especially since everyone’s moved more virtual now with the pandemic.
I sold almost everything I made, with the exception of the 4 items in my shop. I stopped taking orders, so that I could work on some pieces that I really wanted to do.
My latest work "To and Fro in 2020" depicts how I’ve felt over this entire year going from home, to my day job, and vice versa. Like most people I switched to remote work for some of the time. But then as I had to physically go into work more often, I found myself feeling tangled up with my work laptop, my personal laptop, personal phone, work cell, headphones, webcams and all the chargers for each of these devices.
Upon arrival to either work or home, it was constant unloading the backpack of all these things and re-setting up my portable office over and over again. I did this daily and still do. That’s why on this piece, there is a charging cord wrapped around the figures neck and around the body, almost a suffocating feeling sometimes. The top portion is obviously made of charging blocks and related cables. The legs are antler, I went with polka dot shorts just because I though it was a little funny. The bottom legs are my new design, “Zig Zag Man”, which is based on how I feel about my work sometimes.
My work is more consistently zigging and zagging away from the normal Iroquois antler carving. The circular shape around the head of the figure symbolizes the sky world. I feel as artists, the gifts we have come from there. So it’s best to always stay in tune with well being, so you can stay connected."
I don't think we'd be wrong to say that Hayden's latest art was heavily influenced by the pandemic.
Joseph has a polar opposite story to Hayden's. He says that he hardly produced any artwork during covid.
He found himself doing a lot more architectural design and interior design consultations on Zoom. Why? Because schools and non-profits that he works with got Covid-related funding and because everything was transformed to doing business online.
Doing presentations on Zoom was new to him. He didn’t even have a laptop before. Now he has a laptop and his technology skills got an upgrade, though he says he finds technology unpredictable... but he is learning, he says.
He makes more money from consulting than from his art. "Commissions are small, not enough to pay bills. I need to keep my head above the water. I go where the Buffalo goes", Joseph jokes.
Luckily, Joseph still has a few original paintings for sale and he still welcomes commissioned work. He also offers prints of some of his artwork, though he struggled finding a printing place to print a few of his prints recently. His regular printing house was closed, same as many other businesses. Joseph even had to call his customer and try offering her a refund for one of those prints, but the customer said that she'd prefer to wait for him to find the right place to print his artwork. He is still not sure if he'll find a new printing house soon or will have to offer a refund to her anyway.
"I have been working a lot more now than I did before. I have a lot more free time. I've been teaching classes via Zoom and making kits for online workshops, as well as videos for the workshops.
We talked to a few other artists too. Some said they had very little sales, which resulted in a situation of having no money to buy art supplies and even less artwork for sale, so they had to move-in with a roommate or move to a smaller place. Many artists lost considerable income due to the closure of art galleries, craft markets and powwows, where a lot of their artwork was sold. Everyone tried to adapt and try new things though.
The year of pandemic changed a lot for Indigenous artists. In a word, the year was "Complicated".
Author: Marina Korneeva
]]>The World in Faces photo project by Alexander Khimushin celebrates diversity of the world through the portraits of its people from all ethnic groups.
"While on the road, I realized that people were the most interesting part of my travel experience; it is them that I have the most unforgettable memories about. I was especially fascinated by people living in remote, off-the-beaten-path places, where traditional lifestyle and ancient culture remained untouched by the outside world." - says Khimushin
9 years and 84 countries later, Khimushin now has thousands of extraordinary photographs of Indigenous men, women and children from around the world.
He explains on his website why this project is important to him.
"The idea behind The World in Faces project is a result of my internal transformation, a shift from travel consumerism to giving back to the community, to make the world a better place. By praising the world’s ethnic diversity I hope to make us all more respectful and tolerant to people of different ethnicity, religion or culture.
By photographing people of different nationalities in traditional clothing I hope to raise interest for keeping our ethnic identities in the rapidly changing world of globalization. By taking portraits of disappearing ethnic minorities I would like to bring the world’s attention to their hardship that will hopefully help them to survive. It is equally important to gather and document what is still there: I often take portraits of elderly people that are the last native speakers of their indigenous language or the last ones who makes and wear traditional clothing.
Many of the ethnic minorities might not be around in a decade or two.
I see this project as an important mission of mine that can and will make a social impact."
Khimushin believes that embracing cultural diversity will make the world a more tolerant and compassionate place. "Our diversity is not a reason to hate each other. Quite the opposite, we must admire and respect it. If we all realize how unique and amazing we, the people, are, we will care more about each other, be more tolerant to people of another ethnicity, religion and culture."
Below are just a few examples of Khimushin's photographs of Indigenous people from around the world. Check his Facebook page for more photos and amazing stories that accompany them.
"Oroqen people (Orochon, Orochen) are an ethnic minority that is related to the Evenki people of Russia. They can understand each other's language about 70%. Until the early 1950s, Oroqen people were nomadic, leaving in conical dwellings made from the skins of the animals and the bark of trees.
They were mainly hunters until 1990s, until the government banned hunting in the area. Traditionally animal fur and skins are used for their clothing. They are shamanist by religion, however the last Orochon shaman died in October 2000.
Oroqen means a reindeer man in their language as their lifestyle was heavily dependent on reindeer herding. There are almost no reindeer left today. Oroqen people try hard to keep their culture alive, but it is not easy, because they can not maintain their traditional way of living anymore."
Remote North-Eastern States of India are incredible places to experience the unique diversity of people living there. In many areas you'd think that you were not in India at all. Numerous minority groups living there belong to the Tibeto-Burmese language group.
They also have a very interesting and unique blend of Indian and Oriental cultures. This is a photo of a Meitei elder I took while attending one of the religious ceremonies. I was travelling across Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland in 2012, when restrictions for foreigners to visit the area (that had been closed for ages due to political unrest and border disputes) were temporarily lifted.
The Reindeer and its people. This portrait of Evenki Indigenous People, a father and a son that I took in my homeland - Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, the coldest inhabited area of the world. They belong to an extended nomadic family. All winter long, with temperatures as low as -50C/-58F, they live in simple tents many miles away from any other settlement, looking after a herd of their reindeer.
Evenki People are one of the last ethnic groups of the world that keep practicing their traditional reindeer herding, upon which their lives depend.
Young Indigenous woman from Chimbu Province of Papua New Guinea
Chimbu is located in the central highlands cordillera of Papua New Guinea. One slope of the highest mountain of Papua New Guinea - Mt Wilhelm that is 4,509m/14,793ft high is located here. Chimbu has very steep and rugged mountainous terrain and people have to walk many miles each way to get to the regional centre because there are no roads to their villages. Locals mainly grow organic coffee.
Indigenous People of many different ethnic groups of Chimbu speak 18 different languages, further divided into different dialects. One language that is more or less commonly understood is Kuman, spoken by about one third of people of the province.
Some of the ethnic groups believe that the spirit of a human after death is reincarnated within the body of another living person of the same sex and similar age as the deceased.
Author: Marina Korneeva
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Educating buyers about Indigenous culture and values was important to artists too. The Indigenous system of values is very different from traditional values in Western culture. It’s more about community and spirituality than just time spent and money. It’s hard to calculate price for a piece of Indigenous art that is made by hand and cared for Indigenous cultural practices. If you factor in all of the labour and Indigenous rituals, it could be hundreds of hours to make an item that non-Indigenous buyers would not recognize as being special. They would miss the point of the item having purpose and the meaning of the time spent making it.
Indigenous products come with a story/legend/spiritual teachings about their clan, colours etc. (You don’t learn that in school). Sometimes it’s done ceremoniously, at different times of the year. How do you price that?
The marketplace would definitely create an opportunity to educate people. “We’ve never been given a chance or an opportunity to share … (our knowledge)”. Because of that, Indigenous artists don’t always get the recognition they deserve and feel discouraged.
I certainly hope that by giving Indigenous artists a dedicated space to showcase their unique products to the world, we'll educate general public about Indigenous culture and traditions, while addressing many other issues raised at this meeting.
Author: Marina Korneeva
Ricky comes from an area where handcrafted beaded jewelry is not considered valuable. Locals in Guatemala that make this kind of jewelry don't tend to wear it, preferring to focus on selling to tourists. And yet the artistry and time that it takes to create each piece is leading a shift to more and more celebrities and TV hosts wearing these pieces.
Our group has been fortunate enough to meet Ricky through our consultations with Indigenous artists in Toronto and he is a worldly individual whom spends the winters with family in Guatemala.
Ricky said that he learned this jewelry-making technique from others in his village. A lot of people there are doing crafts, so when he travels back to Canada in spring, he often brings handmade items, like clothing and shoes, made by people in his village.
I visited Ricky at his Toronto apartment a couple of times. It was amazing to see the amount of jewelry items he creates. With so many choices, it's hard to pick just one item!
You can see it's his true passion because Ricky can talk about each of his jewelry pieces for hours on end, which makes for great education and fun because he is so animated.
Ricky sent me a few images from his village in Guatemala shortly after he traveled back home. He said this place is really good for creating. It inspires him to work more. I can see what he means.
Check out some of Ricky's Mayan-style Jewelry.
Author: Marina Korneeva