Events

There’s always something exciting happening at the Museum of International Folk Art! Join us for our many programs listed below.

MAKE & TAKE @ MOIFA
Family

MAKE & TAKE @ MOIFA

June 11, 2023
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Join us for art in the atrium on Sundays with art projects, coloring sheets, and self-guided treasure hunts. Add to your explorations at MOIFA with fun collection-inspired bilingual art kits, facilitated by our fantastic MOIFA docents. Our projects are always changing with changing gallery treasure hunts for the whole family.  

Dates & Themes:

June 11 - Uchiwa, Japanese Hand Fans!

June 25 - Uchiwa, Japanese Hand Fans!

The program time is from 10 am - 4 pm, and the program is free with museum admission. Museum admission is always free for Kids and Members, program is included with admission.

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Awa Ningyo Joruri Performance: Japanese Drama performed by professional puppeteers from Tokushima Prefecture
Performance Demonstration

Awa Ningyo Joruri Performance: Japanese Drama performed by professional puppeteers from Tokushima Prefecture

June 24, 2023 through June 25, 2023
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Join us for this 90 minute program including an explanation and a video of Awa Ningyo Joruri,  a demonstration and hands-ons experience of how to operate the large puppets, and the performance of "Keisei Awa no Naruto, The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song"

The same program will be presented on Saturday June 24, and repeated again on Sunday June 25.

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Awa Ningyo Joruri Performance: Japanese Drama performed by professional puppeteers from Tokushima Prefecture

Join us for this 90 minute program including an explanation and a video of Awa Ningyo Joruri,  a demonstration and hands-ons experience of how to operate the large puppets, and the performance of "Keisei Awa no Naruto, The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song"

Ningyo / Narutoza Puppet Theater

Narutoza Puppet Theater was formed in 1980, when its founding director Kobayashi Shunsei, his family, and six other friends joined together to create the troupe, occasioned by the receipt of two puppet heads that had been carved by the master Oe Minosuke IV, a native of Naruto City who had created most of the puppet heads that were used by the Osaka Bunraku Puppet Theater after their puppets and equipment had been destroyed during the War. The two puppets that Narutoza received were Oyumi and Otsuru, the mother and daughter characters in the play Keisei Awa no Naruto. Starting with performances at local schools in Naruto, the troupe collaborated with children’s organizations to produce pieces that were performed at the Otsuka Art Museum. They also performed at the grand opening of the outdoor stage at the Bart Garden theme park and at Nishinomiya Shrine in Hyogo Prefecture, among others, always seeking to convey the charm of traditional Awa puppetry to audiences within and without Tokushima Prefecture. Currently, puppeteers ranging in age from their 30s through their 70s perform with Naruto Puppet Theater under the leadership of the third director, Murakami Kyoko.

“The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song”

Embroiled in the turmoil of the struggle for dominance within the Tokushima domain, Awa no Jurobei and his wife Oyumi change their names and go undercover to become thieves and live in Tamatsukuri in Osaka with the aim of recovering the stolen heirloom sword that belongs to the lord of their domain.

Now several years later, their nine-year-old daughter Otsuru, clad as a pilgrim on the Saikoku circuit of Buddhist temples dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy Kannon, whom the parents had left behind in her grandmother’s care as an infant, calls on the house unaware that it is her parents’ home. Oyumi realizes that that girl is her own child, but does not reveal her identity to her daughter for fear that the now-brewing legal troubles that she and her husband will soon face could bring disaster upon the girl as well. Stifling her tears, Oyumi sends the girl on her way, but as she listens to the departing girl singing a pilgrim’s song about the love of parent and child, the distraught mother cannot keep herself from following after the girl to bring her back. The scene ends with the heart-rending sight of Oyumi, unable to suppress her motherly compassion.]

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Japanese Puppet Making Demo
Workshop

Japanese Puppet Making Demo

June 25, 2023
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Puppeteers from Tokushima, Japan will lead a one-hour demonstration on Japanese Ningyo Joruri puppet production.  Learn about the elaborate puppets used in Ningyo Joruri performances and assemble a puppet head made with a 3D printer.  The workshop is limited to 10 participants and will include:

  • Overview of Awa Ningyo Joruri: 5 minutes
  • Production demonstration and commentary by the puppeteer: 15 minutes
  • Kiyohime’s head assembly experience: 40 minutes

To register for the FREE workshop email: kemely.gomez@dca.nm.gov and include your name, and email if you wish to attend: June 25 from 11 am – 12 pm.  The puppet heads in the workshop will remain with the puppeteers (participants will not receive a puppet head to take home.)

Tokushima is the most popular place of Ningyo Joruri in Japan. Nearly 30 puppet makers are still active in Tokushima, and they receive orders for puppet repairs and new puppet from all over Japan. It is no exaggeration to say that Tokushima’s puppeteers support Japanese Ningyo Joruri.

The heads of the puppets used in Ningyo Joruri are extremely elaborate, which can change the facial expression for example, closing eyes or opening mouse etc. depending on the role. Please try to deepen your understanding of Japanese Ningyo Joruri puppet production by assembling a head (Kiyohime) made with a 3D printer, along with a demonstration and explanation of puppet production by a puppeteer.

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ARTS ALIVE!
Workshop Family

ARTS ALIVE!

August 2, 2023
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Join us on Museum Hill for FREE Hands-on Workshops for Ages 3-103 

Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian

  • Tues, 6/6  | Recycle T-Shirt Printing with Jacob Meders (Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria Maidu) *Bring a T-shirt*
  • Thurs, 6/15  |  Painting Workshop with Diné Artist Peterson Yazzie

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

  • Tues, 6/13 | Pottery
  • Tues, 6/20 | Summer Solstice Activity
  • Tues, 6/27 | Weaving

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

  • Sun, 6/18 | International Mud Day
  • Tues, 7/4 | Plant Art
  • Thurs, 8/3 | National Honey Bee Day

Museum of International Folk Art

  • Wed, 7/12 | Japanese Masks
  • Wed, 7/19 | Papier Mâché
  • Wed, 7/26 | Dolls
  • Wed, 8/2 | Recycled Piñatas

All art making activities are from 10am to 2pm. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Museum and Garden entrance free for Arts Alive! participants during workshop hours. Groups of 6 or more, please call or email to guarantee free admission to the museum or garden.

Arts Alive! A collaborative summer program on Museum Hill at The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, The Santa Fe Botanical Garden, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, and the Museum of International Folk Art.

For groups of 6 or more, please get in touch with the specific location.

Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian

Info@wheelwright.org • wheelwright.org

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

Marita Hinds, 505-476-1272 • marita.hinds@dca.nm.gov • indianartsandculture.org

Santa Fe Botanical Garden

Christie Collins, 505-471-9103 ext.5 • christie@santafebotanicalgarden.org • santafebotanicalgarden.org

Museum of International Folk Art

Patricia Sigala, 505-476-1212 • patricia.sigala@dca.nm.gov • internationalfolkart.org

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