Exhibition Press Information»

Future Exhibitions

Tako Kichi:
Kite Crazy in Japan
In the Bartlett Wing
June 9, 2013 - March 23, 2014
A popular pastime and festival activity for centuries, Japanese kites remain a delightful and entertaining tradition.

Traditional kites from Japan are made from a split bamboo framework and layers of handmade washi paper. The kites are often finished with colorful painted narrative illustrations, legendary heroes, and design elements that reflect Japanese folklore. Everything about these kites is based on kite-making traditions and aesthetics of distinct regions within Japan.

This exhibit presents traditional kites from various regions of Japan and introduces a number of respected traditional kite artists. It explores cultural, historic, and artistic perspectives of kite-making and kite-flying in Japan. Visitors can participate in the artistic process of making kites through engaging gallery activities. Public programming for this exhibit will include lectures, kite-making workshops, and kite-flying on the plaza at Museum Hill. (Photo: Daruma Kite, c. 1960, From the collection of David Kahn)

Brazil (working title)
In the Neutrogena Wing
November 17, 2013 to August 16, 2015
This exhibition will feature MOIFA's rich collection of folk art from different regions of Brazil. It will include around 200 pieces, ranging from ceramic and wood sculptures, wood block prints, Afro-Brazilian religious items, and festival costumes and masquerades.

The Red that Colored the World (working title)
In the Hispanic Heritage Wing & East Bartlett Galleries
June 21, 2015 to January 2016
From Antiquity to today, as symbol and hue, red has risen to the pinnacle of the color spectrum. Throughout art history, a broad red brushstroke has colored the finest art and expressions of daily life. Yet, while most people know red, few know of its most prolific and enduring source: American Cochineal, a tiny scaled insect that produces carminic acid. Fewer still know the story behind its explosive global spread after its first encounter by Spain in 16th century Mexico. Cochineal can already be demonstrated as a commonly used colorant in painting, sculpture, furniture and textiles from the mid 16th through the mid-19th century, when synthetic pigments were invented. Part of the 2014 Summer of color in Santa Fe, the exhibition is not restricted to folk art and will include manuscripts, paintings, sculpture, textiles and furniture from pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial Mexico, Peru and New Mexico; European paintings, textiles and clothing; and textiles from Asia, India and the Middle East, along with selections from the collection at the Museum of International Folk Art. Integrating a variety of interactive, visitor friendly features and didactic materials, visitors are invited to look through the centuries to consider the central role of color in art, history and culture- as well as in their own lives.