Tomes! Enhancing Community and Embracing Diversity Through Book Arts
PDF

How to Cite

Beene, S. J., González, L. M., & Schadl, S. M. (2018). Tomes! Enhancing Community and Embracing Diversity Through Book Arts. Radical Teacher, 112, 55–66. https://doi.org/10.5195/rt.2018.531

Abstract

This article highlights important connections between the spoken word, handmade paper, cultural memory and natural sustenance -- in books and in artworks. Two projects were brought together for an exhibition, which serves as an innovative response to the call for multiculturalism, inclusion, and equity at an educational institution in one of the most multilingual and multicultural states in the U.S. Any organization which mounts an exhibition runs the risk of assuming they know what visitors want to see, or ought to see, and how they might choose to experience the works displayed. This exhibit is an attempt to subvert that tendency and extend the continuum of authority, offering visitors multiple modes for leaving their mark on the exhibit. Preliminary comments demonstrate how performative and tactile object-based inquiry leads to transformative learning. How do communities interact with and describe materials whose intent is to push what comfortably translates between English and Spanish? How can we collaborate to provide better access to collections that represent their families, communities, or traditions? What sorts of differences are observed between the ways people handle and describe unique objects if they are not instructed first? The exhibit continues to evolve according to community feedback. This article discusses one approach to collaboration as an effective tool for breaking down barriers to traditional authority and hierarchies.
https://doi.org/10.5195/rt.2018.531
PDF

References

Albuquerque Economic Development. (2018). “ Living Here -- Demographics -- Diversity.” Retrieved from https://www.abq.org/demographics.aspx

Alvarez, S. (2016). Taco literacies: Ethnography, foodways, and emotions through Mexican food writing. Composition Forum, 34. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1113417

Arellano, G. (2013). Taco USA: How Mexican food conquered America. New York, NY: Scribner Press.

Akhmadeeva, I. (2014). Mis tortillas para valentina. Morelia, Michoacán, México: Ioulia Akhmadeeva.

Blake, K.E., Smith, J.N. & Adame, C. (2017). Aligning authority with responsibility for interpretation. In P. Villeneuve & A. Rowson Love (Eds.), Visitor-Centered exhibitions and edu-curation in art museums (pp. 87-97). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Cinco Puntos. (2009). The Creators of incantations. Cinco Puntos Press. Retrieved from http://cincopuntospress.blogspot.com/2009/07/creators-of-incantations.html

De Jesús Villalpando González, M. (2010). Hunab ku: Té de manzanilla sobre haikús. México, D.F., Mexico: Ehéccatl Editor.

Durrani, S. & Smallwood, E. (2008). The professional is political: Redefining the social role of public libraries. In A. Lewis. (Ed.), Questioning Library Neutrality: Essays from Progressive Librarian (pp. 119-14). Duluth, MN: Library Juice Press.

Gies, M. (2010). Back in print after 500 years: Review. Wellesley Center for Women, Womens Review of Books. Retrieved from https://www.wcwonline.org/WRB-Issues/797.

Gómez De Anda, L. (2010). Papel amate, arte curativo. La Razón. Retrieved from https://www.razon.com.mx/papel-amate-arte-curativo/

Gurrola, M. (2013). ¿Caldo?: Sazonado con refranes populares. Guadalajara, Mexico: Lía Libro de Artista.

Herrera, I. (2012). Karwinskii effectus: Carpeta gráfica. Oaxaca, México: Cuish Mezcales.

Hudson, K. (1991). How misleading does an ethnographical museum have to be? In I. Karp & S.D. Lavine (Eds.), Exhibiting cultures: The Poetics and politics of museum display, (pp. 457-464). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Heumann Gurian, E. (1991). Noodling around with exhibition opportunities. In I. Karp & S.D. Lavine (Eds.), Exhibiting cultures: The Poetics and politics of museum display (pp. 176-190). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Houlihan, P. (1991).The Poetic image and Native American art. In I. Karp & S.D. Lavine (Eds.), Exhibiting cultures: The Poetics and politics of museum display (pp. 205-212). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Johnston, A. (2000). Objectifying sensibilities: Reader response and its discontents. Radical Pedagogy, 2 (1). Retrieved from http://www.radicalpedagogy.org/radicalpedagogy/Objectifying_Sensibilities__Reader_Response_and_its_Discontents.html

Karp, I. & Lavine, S.D., eds. (1991). Exhibiting cultures: The Poetics and politics of museum display. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Keating, K. & Aguilar, P. (2009). Satellite outreach services program to under-represented students: ‘Being in their Space, not on MySpace’.” The Reference Librarian, 1: 14-28.

Kirstenblatt-Gimblett, B. (1991). Objects of ethnography. In I. Karp & S.D. Lavine (Eds.), Exhibiting cultures: The Poetics and politics of museum display (pp. 387-443). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Koke, J. & Ryan, K. (2017). From consultation to collaboration: Mechanisms for integrating community voices into exhibition development. In P. Villeneuve & A. Rowson Love (Eds.), Visitor-Centered exhibitions and edu-curation in art museums (pp. 47-56). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Lavine, S. D. (1991). Museum practices. In I. Karp & S.D. Lavine (Eds.) Exhibiting cultures: The Poetics and politics of museum display (pp. 155-156). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Morton, P.E. (2014). Tortillas: A cultural history. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press.

Meléndez, A.G., Young, M.J., Moore, P. & Pynes, P., eds. (2001). The Multicultural Southwest, a reader. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

Past, Á., & Bañuelos, J. (1997). Conjuros y ebriedades: cantos de mujeres mayas, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, México: Taller Leñateros.

Past, Á., Tzu, M., Vet, R. Méndes Péres, M.,S. (Translator), & Slingsby, T. (2008). Bolom chon. San Cristóbal de Las Casas, México: Taller Leñateros.

Pegno, M. & Farrar, C. (2017). Multivocal, collaborative practices in community-based art museum exhibitions. In P. Villeneuve & A. Rowson Love (Eds.), Visitor-Centered exhibitions and edu-curation in art museums (pp. 169-181). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield..

Pew Research Center. (2015). Chapter 3: Lower income Americans and communities of color more likely to see libraries as community anchors. Libraries at the Crossroads. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/09/15/lower-income-americans-and-communities-of-color-more-likely-to-see-libraries-as-community-anchors/

Pilcher, J. M. (2012). Planet taco: A Global history of Mexican food. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Pohl, F. K. (2002). Art and conquest. in Framing America: A Social history of American art (pp. 13-20).New York, NY: Thames & Hudson.

Sandstrom, A. R. & Sandstrom, P. E. (2016 September 6). Aztec Papermaking. Retrieved from http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/writing/aztec-papermaking

Schadl, S.M. & Graham de la Rosa, M. (2014). Getting up pa’l pueblo: Tagging ASAR-Oaxaca prints and stencils, exhibition essay, 28 February -7 November, 2014, The National Hispanic Cultural Center Museum.

Sesma, R., Chapa, M., Ortiz, M., Fernández, S., & Calderón, E. (1995). Dies solis. México D.F., Mexico: Ediciones Papeles Privados.

Taller Leñateros. (1999). Taller Leñateros: Quiénes Somos. Retrieved from http://tallerlenateros.com/quienes.php?ira=quienes

Taller Leñateros. (n.d.) La jícara. San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México: Casa de los Imágenes.

The University of New Mexico Office of Institutional Analytics (2018), The UNM spring 2018 official enrollment report (as of February 2, 2018). Retrieved from http://oia.unm.edu/facts-and-figures/spring-2018-oer1.pdf

United States Census Bureau (2015). American community survey 5-Year estimates, demographic and housing estimates 2011-2015, 2015 estimates for “Hispanic or Latino and Race.” Retrieved from https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF

United States Census Bureau Population Division. (2016). Annual estimates of the resident population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016 United States metropolitan statistical area; and for Puerto Rico. Retrieved from https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml

Valle P. P. (1994). Códice de Tlatelolco: estudio preliminar. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.

Villeneuve, P. & Rowson Love, A., eds. (2017). Visitor-Centered exhibitions and edu-curation in art museums. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Werner-Avidon, M., Clearwaters, D. & Chan, D. (2017). Dynamic moments: Testing high-engagement visitor experiences at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. In P. Villeneuve & A. Rowson Love (Eds.) Visitor-Centered exhibitions and edu-curation in art museums (pp. 57-69). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.