Untitled
MUSEUM LABEL
DESCRIPTION
Here, Jose Benítez Sánchez envisions the movement of the azure-hued Tamatsi Kauyumarie (Our Elder Brother Deer) through the three worlds that comprise the Wixárika cosmos: Watetüapa, the subterranean region from which the deities emerged; Heriepa, the mountainous area that mirrors the Sierra Madre Occidental range; and Taheimá, the domain of the sky. At one and the same time, Tamatsi Kauyumarie is the supernatural essence of hikuri (peyote), primordial mara’kame (shaman), and first among the kakauyari (ancestral figures) who assume animal, plant, and human dimensions. While most yarn painters utilize rectangular shapes in producing nierikate, Benítez Sánchez employs a spherical form that mirrors the circularity of the cosmos and the gourd bowls used in Wixárika rituals. His depictions of votive arrows or darts (irite) highlight sacred elements and communication with the divine.
48
VIDEOS
10
PEOPLE
Mario
Muñoz Cayetano
President Emeritus
Wixárika Union of Ceremonial Centers of Jalisco, Durango, and Nayarit A.C.
Diana
Negrín da Silva
Associate Director, Wixárika Research Center
Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley
THEMES
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES