Blog

The Staff Picks exhibit at MOIFA is all over the place. Literally! There are pieces from all over the world there. That’s why I’d like to highlight a really awesome piece, the mbira dzavadzimu (ehm-BEE-rah zah- vahd-ZEE-moo)! Mbira dzavadzimu means “voice/mbira of the ancestors”. It is traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. During the 19th century the instrument was banned... Now you can see one in Staff Picks!
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Have you seen MOIFA’s Staff Picks: Favorites from the Collection Exhibit? If so, you may have seen one of this intern’s favorite pieces in the whole museum and the exhibit: The Kashmiri Sitar! In case you are unfamiliar with the Sitar, here is some interesting background! The Sitar is a stringed instrument of the lute family, and has been around for a very long time. However, we don’t know who actually invented the sitar. Scholars have various theories... Come see this amazing musical instrument before Staff Picks closes Aug 18th!
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Since the Spring of 2020 women belonging to embroidery groups in South Africa and Chile have been representing how the coronavirus has affected their lives and that of their compatriots.
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MOIFA research associate Dr. Frank J. Korom offers this mahatmya ("panegyric") in memory of Gurupada Chitrakar of Naya, West Bengal, India.
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Guest contributor America Meredith shares a reflection on mask-making by Native artists in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as seen in selected pieces from First American Art Magazine's 2020 virtual exhibition, Masked Heroes: Facial Coverings by Native Artists.
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This Docent's Choice post comes from Diana Mamalaki -- a docent with both MOIFA and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. With her selection of this pillow cover, woven by a young Cretan bride for her trousseau, Diana reflects on the strong women of her own family in the mountain village of Rodakinon, and the appreciation they instilled in her for family, culture, and the arts.​
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Docent Leah Gibbons offers this week's Folk Art Piece of the Week post: a look at the hamsa, a powerful symbol shared for centuries across North African cultures. Leah guides us to the array of hamsas displayed among the amulets, ex-votos, and milagros in the entryway to MOIFA's Multiple Visions exhibit and -- if you look carefully in the exhibit hall -- within and above Alexander Girard's Moroccan scene.
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In this series, MOIFA's docents explore our collections online and select a favorite piece to share with you. This week, Edelma Huntley travels vicariously to the markets of Acatlán de Osorio through the lively market scenes of artist Herón Martinez Mendoza.
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In this series, MOIFA's docents explore our collections online and select a favorite piece to share with you. This week, Ann Murdy presents the "flor immortal" of Delfino and Timoteo López Godínez as found -- to her surprise and delight -- in the Girard Foundation collection at MOIFA.
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Today's "Folk Art Piece of the Week" post arrives from independent scholar Elizabeth Lillehoj, a Professor Emeritus in the Department of History of Art and Architecture at DePaul University, Chicago. With her selection of a 19th century Shinto votive tablet (ema) painted by Kano Asanobu, Dr. Lillehoj turns attention to its mythic subject, Empress Jingū.
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