ARTISTS
Interlaced Communities
MOLAA is pleased to present this new exhibition, featuring works donated to the museum by two esteemed collectors: Joseph Johnston and Rita Moran. Both Johnston and Moran have championed Indigenous Guatemalan artistic production through long-standing relationships and collaboration with Maya communities.
Contemporary narratives often sensationalize and stereotype the Maya as people rooted in the past rather than recognized as vibrant communities in the present. This exhibition challenges such notions by bringing together works by ten Indigenous artists from four Maya communities in Guatemala: Santiago Atitl谩n, San Pedro La Laguna, San Juan La Laguna, and San Juan Comalapa.
The Tz鈥檜tujil and Kaqchikel Maya artists presented in Interlaced Communities are considered some of the most important painters in Guatemala. Among them, Andr茅s Curruchich and Juan Sisay established painting traditions in their towns and mentored younger artists, while Mar铆a Teodora M茅ndez de Gonz谩lez and Rosa Elena Churruchich Bal were some of the first Maya women to become oil painters. In their works, the ten artists express and transmit their cultures by capturing the traditions, quotidian experiences, worldviews, and natural environment of the region.
Although each painting offers a unique glimpse into different aspects of Maya life, the artists employ similar visual and thematic elements. Many of the works depict figures wearing clothing with striking colors and dynamic patterns. Others portray historical events, ceremonies, and daily tasks against the backdrop of the Guatemalan Highlands. Through the intersection of history, lived experience, spirituality, and landscape, the artists simultaneously protect and affirm Maya cultural identity while honoring their communities.
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MOLAA is pleased to present this new exhibition, featuring works donated to the museum by two esteemed collectors: Joseph Johnston and Rita Moran. Both Johnston and Moran have championed Indigenous Guatemalan artistic production through long-standing relationships and collaboration with Maya communities.
Contemporary narratives often sensationalize and stereotype the Maya as people rooted in the past rather than recognized as vibrant communities in the present. This exhibition challenges such notions by bringing together works by ten Indigenous artists from four Maya communities in Guatemala: Santiago Atitl谩n, San Pedro La Laguna, San Juan La Laguna, and San Juan Comalapa.
The Tz鈥檜tujil and Kaqchikel Maya artists presented in Interlaced Communities are considered some of the most important painters in Guatemala. Among them, Andr茅s Curruchich and Juan Sisay established painting traditions in their towns and mentored younger artists, while Mar铆a Teodora M茅ndez de Gonz谩lez and Rosa Elena Churruchich Bal were some of the first Maya women to become oil painters. In their works, the ten artists express and transmit their cultures by capturing the traditions, quotidian experiences, worldviews, and natural environment of the region.
Although each painting offers a unique glimpse into different aspects of Maya life, the artists employ similar visual and thematic elements. Many of the works depict figures wearing clothing with striking colors and dynamic patterns. Others portray historical events, ceremonies, and daily tasks against the backdrop of the Guatemalan Highlands. Through the intersection of history, lived experience, spirituality, and landscape, the artists simultaneously protect and affirm Maya cultural identity while honoring their communities.
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