Event Details

The Girard Collection: Enduring Appeal It is entirely possible to be both delighted and overwhelmed by the Alexander Girard’s one-of-a-kind exhibition—even after more than twenty-five years. The vastness of the exhibit space, the complexity of the design, the sheer quantity of objects on display—the immensity and intensity can be overpowering. And compelling.That’s why Multiple Visions: A Common Bond has been the destination for well over a million first-time and repeat visitors to the Museum of International Folk Art. First, second, third, or countless times around, we find our gaze drawn by different objects, different scenes. With more than 10,000 objects to see, this exhibition continues to enchant museum visitors, staff and patrons.

With his singular vision and intuitive understanding of the multiplicity of cultures and artistic genres, perhaps Girard himself felt the same unflagging delight when he was designing the exhibit. Girard rewards those who look carefully with touches of wit and whimsy, amazing us with his command of detail and sense of perspective. He appeals to children and adults alike who peer into the sets from different angles, to glimpse people and animals, puppets, dolls, and small figures of clay, wood, paper, cloth, and, yes, even plastics. Some look familiar, clearly identifiable as the products of specific cultures and places. Others take us to places we can only imagine. Who can ever tire of going back to these places of enjoyment and creativity?

The Girard Family collection of more than 100,000 objects is unique in part because of its size and breadth: more than 100 countries on six continents are represented. Enjoy this text-free gallery with or without a docent, pick up a Gallery Guide to read more about the cases, or pick up a multi-media tour on an Ipod touch available at the front desk for no additional fee.

"I believe we should preserve this evidence of the past, not as a pattern for sentimental imitation, but as nourishment for the creative spirit of the present."

- Alexander Girard

MULTIPLE VISIONS GALLERY GUIDE

ONLINE RESOURCES:

Online Experiences-http://moifa.org/visit/online.html

Experience our Renowned Exhibit Multiple Visions: Multiple Visions: A Common Bond with a Google 360 View

A Common Bond-http://collection.internationalfolkart.org/collections/9528/a-common-bond

Where Worlds Collide Folk art collector meets Modernist creator at the Museum of International Folk Art.-http://www.elpalacio.org/2019/11/where-worlds-collide/

For the Love of the Little Maintaining Alexander Girard’s mania for multitudes-http://www.elpalacio.org/2019/08/for-the-love-of-the-little/

A Dazzling Denizen Alexander Girard made himself at home in the world, and made many worlds of his own.-http://www.elpalacio.org/2019/05/a-dazzling-denizen/

Milner Plaza Alebrije Exhibit – Opening June 17, 2023 This summer we will be expanding La Cartonería Mexicana onto Milner Plaza.  This outdoor exhibition will feature seven alebrijes and other fanciful spirit animals on loan from the MCC DuPage. The objects reflect the creativity of contemporary Mexican cartoneros.  This exhibition will be free and open to the public during our regular operating hours. 

Installation with the Mexico City cartoneros begins June 14-16.  This outdoor exhibition can be viewed from June 17- October 1, 2023, and is made possible in part by a grant from Los Amigos del Arte Popular.

VIEW THE EXHIBITION’S OBJECT LIST.

For all press inquiries contact Ashley Espinoza at:  ashley.espinoza@dca.nm.gov   505-479-0906

Photo by Addison Doty

Alebrije created by Pedro Linares, mid-1980s. Mexico City, Mexico.

Between the Lines invites an expansive definition of imprisonment, incorporating perspectives from criminal detention centers alongside ICE detention centers, Native boarding schools, and other systems of internment. Between the Lines will challenge the narrative about who prisoners are, while exploring the ripple effects detention has on family and community. Rooted in prisoners’ resilience, ingenuity and creativity, this exhibition also examines how the arts can be a catalyst for healing, rehabilitation, and change, and an act of resistance in themselves.

Grounded in local community, this exhibition began with a series of dialogues, paño and poetry workshops at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in 2017. A ‘school-to-prison pipeline’ initiative with at-risk-youth followed in 2018, https://www.sitesofconscience.org/en/2018/01/brown-v-board-to-ferguson-toolkit/ in collaboration with Santa Fe ¡YouthWorks!. Other partners include the Gordon Bernell Charter School (located in MDC where students have the opportunity to recover credit and earn a high school diploma), the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, and the Coalition for Prisoner’s Rights.

Additionally, Between the Lines will explore the infamous 1980 New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot through a series of interviews with Northern New Mexico locals, teachers, social workers, and former inmates, conversations which further illuminate themes of prisoner’s rights and advocacy.

Artworks are drawn from MOIFA’s extensive prison art collection, alongside recently acquired pieces - purchased at the Penitentiary of New Mexico (PNM) Inmate Craftsmanship and Trades Fair, sourced from local artists, teachers, and those working in prisoner’s rights organizations, and pieces newly created through related programming. As is customary with the Gallery of Conscience, community programs will play an integral role in and run throughout the course of the exhibit, with off-site conversations, art making events, and pop-up galleries seen as vital, companion components of the in-gallery space, and newly created artworks and prompts being rolled into the exhibition to spark new conversation.

This exhibition will be made accessible online to the fullest extent possible, as well as on DVD to share with those currently incarcerated.

Djan Shun Lin, Eagle, York County Prison, Pennsylvania, United States, ca. 1994. Paper, paint. IFAF Collection, Museum of International Folk Art (FA.1995.3.1).

Paper sculptures made from recycled magazine pages demonstrate a paperworking tradition found in prisons and detention centers. The eagle above was made by a Chinese refugee who was aboard the ship Golden Venture which ran aground in New York in 1993. Lin and other refugees who were aboard the ship were detained at York County Prison in Pennsylvania for nearly four years. Many made folded paper sculptures to pass time in prison and to give as gifts to their pro-bono lawyers.