Events

There’s always something exciting happening at the Museum of International Folk Art! Join us for our many programs listed below.

Japanese Mask Making Demonstrations with Ichiyu Terai
Featured Event Demonstration

Japanese Mask Making Demonstrations with Ichiyu Terai

June 1, 2023 through June 4, 2023
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Join us for Japanese mask making demonstrations with noh mask maker Terai Ichiyu on June 1-4 in the Atrium.  A translator will be on hand to facilitate conversation with Mr. Terai. 

Terai-san likens mask making to "time travel" explaining that when he creates a character, he feels connected to the generations of mask-makers who have crafted the same character before him. In creating a powerful mask sucha as a hannya, Terai senses her energy, enabling him to help the mask express its complex set of emotions: ferocious rage, fear and sadness.

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Family Mornings at Folk Art
Featured Event Family

Family Mornings at Folk Art

June 4, 2023
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Join us for our monthly Family Mornings at Folk Art program featuring storytime, art activity, and explorations in the galleries. FREE Family Program!

Themes:

  • June 4th - Sewn Stories - Make a Memory Cloth

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Gallery Talk with artist John Paul Granillo | Plática de galería con el artista John Paul Granillo

Join us for a gallery talk with artist John Paul Granillo in the newly opened exhibition, Between the Lines: Prison Art and Advocacy l A Community Conversation. Instrumental in the development of this exhibition, John Paul will explore and expand on its themes while sharing his personal story.

 Acompañanos a la plática de galería con el artista John Paul Granillo en la exposición recién inaugurada, Entre líneas: arte carcelario y abogacía: Una conversación comunitaria. Instrumental en el desarrollo de esta exposición, John Paul explorará y ampliará sobre los temas de la exposición mientras comparte su historia personal.

John Paul in the gallery with one of his paños, which was created while incarcerated. Photo: Patricia Sigala.

Juan Pablo en la galería con uno de sus paños, que creo  mientras estaba encarcelado. Foto: Patricia Sigala.

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Large Scale Alebrijes Coming to Milner Plaza | Meet and Greet the Artists
Featured Event Family Demonstration

Large Scale Alebrijes Coming to Milner Plaza | Meet and Greet the Artists

June 15, 2023
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Seven large-scale alebrijes or whimsical creature sculptures inspired by Mexican folklore will be installed on Milner Plaza on Museum Hill from June 14-16 as a summer extension of the exhibition, La Cartonería Mexicana / The Mexican Art of Paper and Paste, at the Museum of International Folk Art. The sculptures will be on display until early October. This project is in partnership with the Mexican Cultural Center DuPage.

The installation on Milner Plaza will take place with help from two of the six Mexico City artists, Alejandro Camacho Barrera and Miriam Camancho, and the Artistic Director of this project, Fernando Ramirez from the Mexican Cultural Center Du Page.

Please join us on Thursday, June 15 from 3 to 5 pm in front of the Museum of International Folk Art to see the installation in progress and meet the artists from Mexico City. The other artists represented in this display from Mexico City are Perla Miriam Salgado Zamorano, Alberto Moreno Fernández, and Edgar Israel Camargo Reyes.

We would also like to give a special tribute to Edwina and Charles Milner, who together were the lead donors for Milner Plaza, a 32-acre renovation project that created a beautiful public space for four world-class museums on Museum Hill where numerous programs like this have taken place.

We are especially grateful to Los Amigos del Arte Popular, Friends of Folk Art, International Folk Art Foundation and donors to the Museum of New Mexico Foundation Exhibition Development Fund for making this exhibition and outdoor installation possible.

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Between the Lines: Prison, Poetry & Families | Entre lineas: Cárcel, poesía y familias
Workshop Lectures and Talks

Between the Lines: Prison, Poetry & Families | Entre lineas: Cárcel, poesía y familias

June 18, 2023
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Join us for an afternoon of poetry and community gathering! FREE Admission.

  • 1:00-2:00 PM - A gathering with Poets: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Ronnie Ortiz, Tara Trudell & Santa Fe Poet Laureate Darryl Wellington
  • 2:00-3:00 PM- Reception & paper bead making with Tara Trudell

ASL Interpretation will be provided during the poetry readings. 

____________________________________________________________

¡Acompáñanos para una tarde de poesía y reunión comunitaria! Entrada Gratuita.

  • 1:00-2:00 PM - Una reunión con poetas: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Ronnie Ortiz, Tara Trudell & Santa Fe Poet Laureate Darryl Wellington
  • 2:00-3:00 PM - Recepción y elaboración de cuentas de papel con Tara Trudell

Se proporcionará interpretación de ASL (lengua de señas americana) durante las lecturas de poesía

In conjunction with the exhibition "Between the Lines: Prison Art and Advocacy | A Community Conversation."

En conjunto con la exposición «Entre líneas: arte carcelario y abogacía: Una conversación comunitaria»

Thank you to the International Folk Art Foundation and the Museum of New Mexico Foundation for their generous support.

Gracias a la International Folk Art Foundation y la Museum of New Mexico Foundation por su generoso apoyo.

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Japanese Puppet Making Demo
Workshop

Japanese Puppet Making Demo

June 21, 2023
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Puppeteers from Tokushima, Japan will lead a one-hour demonstration on Japanese Ningyo Joruri puppet production.  Learn about the elaborate puppets used in Ningyo Joruri performances and assemble a puppet head made with a 3D printer.  The workshop is limited to 10 participants and will include:

  • Overview of Awa Ningyo Joruri: 5 minutes
  • Production demonstration and commentary by the puppeteer: 15 minutes
  • Kiyohime’s head assembly experience: 40 minutes

To register for the FREE workshop email: kemely.gomez@dca.nm.gov and include your name, and email if you wish to attend: June 25 from 11 am – 12 pm.  The puppet heads in the workshop will remain with the puppeteers (participants will not receive a puppet head to take home.)

Tokushima is the most popular place of Ningyo Joruri in Japan. Nearly 30 puppet makers are still active in Tokushima, and they receive orders for puppet repairs and new puppet from all over Japan. It is no exaggeration to say that Tokushima’s puppeteers support Japanese Ningyo Joruri.

The heads of the puppets used in Ningyo Joruri are extremely elaborate, which can change the facial expression for example, closing eyes or opening mouse etc. depending on the role. Please try to deepen your understanding of Japanese Ningyo Joruri puppet production by assembling a head (Kiyohime) made with a 3D printer, along with a demonstration and explanation of puppet production by a puppeteer.

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Awa Ningyo Joruri Performance: Japanese Drama performed by professional puppeteers from Tokushima Prefecture
Performance Demonstration

Awa Ningyo Joruri Performance: Japanese Drama performed by professional puppeteers from Tokushima Prefecture

June 24, 2023 through June 25, 2023
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Join us for this 90 minute program including an explanation and a video of Awa Ningyo Joruri,  a demonstration and hands-on experience of how to operate the large puppets, and the performance of "Keisei Awa no Naruto, The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song."

The same program will be presented on Saturday June 24, and repeated again on Sunday June 25.

The Narutoza Puppet Theater Troupe will perform "The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song," from the play, Keisei Awa no Naruto.

The Narutoza Puppet Theater Troupe will perform "The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song," from the play, Keisei Awa no Naruto.

The story is about a man named Jurobei and his wife Oyumi, who are embroiled in the struggle for dominance within the Tokushima domain. This is the most frequently performed puppet drama in Tokushima and it depicts local characters from Tokushima.  The drama is a collaboration of five playwrights, including the renowned Chikamatsu Hanji.

“The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song,” is about the affection between parent and child. Here, Jurobei and Oyumi  had to change their names and go undercover to become thieves and live in Tamatsukuri in Osaka. Their aim was to recover a stolen heirloom -- a sword that belongs to the lord of their domain. They had to leave their infant daughter, Otsuru, behind, in her grandmother’s care. 

Now, several years later, Otsuru is nine years old. Clad as a pilgrim, she is on the Saikoku circuit of Buddhist temples dedicated to Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy. Unaware that it is her parents’ home, she calls on their house. 

Oyumi realizes that the girl is her own child. However, she does not reveal her identity to her daughter for fear that brewing legal troubles, that she and her husband will face, could bring disaster upon the girl as well. Stifling her tears, Oyumi sends the girl on her way, but as she listens to the departing girl singing "A Pilgrim’s Song," which is about  love between a parent and child, the distraught mother cannot keep herself from following after the girl to bring her back. The scene ends with the heart-rending sight of Oyumi, unable to suppress her motherly passion.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:

Tayu (narrator): Shiju Nagano of Tomowakakai

Tomowakakai is a tayu (narrator) group that was established in 1997 under the leadership of Tomowaka Takemoto. This is Tokushima’s largest storytelling group, with 20 current members. The activities of the association are wide-ranging, and they actively participate in competitions in Tokushima Prefecture and elsewhere, including Awaji and Osaka. In addition, performances are held every year at the Inukai Rural Stage and the Kamaze Rural Stage.

Shamisen (a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument): Tomowaka Takemoto

Shamisen musician, Tomowaka Takemoto studied under Machiko Toyozawa and debuted on stage in 1976. In 1996, she became a disciple of the late Tomoji Tsurusawa (one of Japan’s National Living Treasures), and in 1997 she took the name “Tomowaka Takemoto.” In 2007 she appeared in the Ningyo Joruri performance of Awa no Geinoh at the Tokyo National Theatre, and in 2013 she appeared in the Gidayu Concert at the National Engei Hall in Tokyo. She has also participated in many overseas performances and holds Gidayu-bushi workshops for elementary and junior high schools. In 2002 she received the Ningyo Joruri Chinamikai Association Encouragement Award, in 2009 the Ningyo Joruri Chinamikai Association Women’s Category Encouragement Award, and in 2017 the Tokushima Arts and Culture Encouragement Award. Tomowaka Takemoto holds certification as a bearer of “Important Intangible Cultural Heritage.”

Narutoza Puppet Theater

Narutoza Puppet Theater was formed in 1980, when its founding director Kobayashi Shunsei, his family, and six other friends joined together to create the troupe, occasioned by the receipt of two special puppet heads. These puppet heads were carved by the master Oe Minosuke IV, a native of Naruto City who had created most of the puppet heads that were used by the Osaka Bunraku Puppet Theater after their puppets and equipment had been destroyed during World War II. The two puppets that Narutoza received were Oyumi and Otsuru, the mother and daughter characters in the play Keisei Awa no Naruto. Starting with performances at local schools in Naruto, the troupe collaborated with children’s organizations to produce pieces that were performed at the Otsuka Art Museum. They also performed at the grand opening of the outdoor stage at the Bart Garden theme park and at Nishinomiya Shrine in Hyogo Prefecture, among others, always seeking to convey the charm of traditional Awa puppetry to audiences within and without Tokushima Prefecture. Currently, puppeteers ranging in age from their 30s through their 70s perform with Naruto Puppet Theater under the leadership of the third director, Murakami Kyoko.

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MAKE & TAKE @ MOIFA
Family

MAKE & TAKE @ MOIFA

June 25, 2023
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Join us for art in the atrium on Sundays with art projects, coloring sheets, and self-guided treasure hunts. Add to your explorations at MOIFA with fun collection-inspired bilingual art kits, facilitated by our fantastic MOIFA docents. Our projects are always changing with changing gallery treasure hunts for the whole family.  

Dates & Themes:

June 25 - Uchiwa, Japanese Hand Fans!

The program time is from 10 am - 4 pm, and the program is free with museum admission. Museum admission is always free for Kids and Members, program is included with admission.

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Awa Ningyo Joruri Performance: Japanese Drama performed by professional puppeteers from Tokushima Prefecture

Join us for this 90 minute program including an explanation and a video of Awa Ningyo Joruri,  a demonstration and hands-on experience of how to operate the large puppets, and the performance of "Keisei Awa no Naruto, The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song."

The same program will be presented on Saturday June 24, and repeated on Sunday June 25.

The Narutoza Puppet Theater Troupe will perform "The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song," from the play, Keisei Awa no Naruto.

The story is about a man named Jurobei and his wife Oyumi, who are embroiled in the struggle for dominance within the Tokushima domain. This is the most frequently performed puppet drama in Tokushima and it depicts local characters from Tokushima.  The drama is a collaboration of five playwrights, including the renowned Chikamatsu Hanji.

“The Scene of the Pilgrim’s Song,” is about the affection between parent and child. Here, Jurobei and Oyumi  had to change their names and go undercover to become thieves and live in Tamatsukuri in Osaka. Their aim was to recover a stolen heirloom -- a sword that belongs to the lord of their domain. They had to leave their infant daughter, Otsuru, behind, in her grandmother’s care. 

Now, several years later, Otsuru is nine years old. Clad as a pilgrim, she is on the Saikoku circuit of Buddhist temples dedicated to Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy. Unaware that it is her parents’ home, she calls on their house. 

Oyumi realizes that the girl is her own child. However, she does not reveal her identity to her daughter for fear that brewing legal troubles, that she and her husband will face, could bring disaster upon the girl as well. Stifling her tears, Oyumi sends the girl on her way, but as she listens to the departing girl singing "A Pilgrim’s Song," which is about  love between a parent and child, the distraught mother cannot keep herself from following after the girl to bring her back. The scene ends with the heart-rending sight of Oyumi, unable to suppress her motherly passion.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:

Tayu (narrator): Shiju Nagano of Tomowakakai

Tomowakakai is a tayu (narrator) group that was established in 1997 under the leadership of Tomowaka Takemoto. This is Tokushima’s largest storytelling group, with 20 current members. The activities of the association are wide-ranging, and they actively participate in competitions in Tokushima Prefecture and elsewhere, including Awaji and Osaka. In addition, performances are held every year at the Inukai Rural Stage and the Kamaze Rural Stage.

Shamisen (a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument): Tomowaka Takemoto

Shamisen musician, Tomowaka Takemoto studied under Machiko Toyozawa and debuted on stage in 1976. In 1996, she became a disciple of the late Tomoji Tsurusawa (one of Japan’s National Living Treasures), and in 1997 she took the name “Tomowaka Takemoto.” In 2007 she appeared in the Ningyo Joruri performance of Awa no Geinoh at the Tokyo National Theatre, and in 2013 she appeared in the Gidayu Concert at the National Engei Hall in Tokyo. She has also participated in many overseas performances and holds Gidayu-bushi workshops for elementary and junior high schools. In 2002 she received the Ningyo Joruri Chinamikai Association Encouragement Award, in 2009 the Ningyo Joruri Chinamikai Association Women’s Category Encouragement Award, and in 2017 the Tokushima Arts and Culture Encouragement Award. Tomowaka Takemoto holds certification as a bearer of “Important Intangible Cultural Heritage.”

Narutoza Puppet Theater

Narutoza Puppet Theater was formed in 1980, when its founding director Kobayashi Shunsei, his family, and six other friends joined together to create the troupe, occasioned by the receipt of two special puppet heads. These puppet heads were carved by the master Oe Minosuke IV, a native of Naruto City who had created most of the puppet heads that were used by the Osaka Bunraku Puppet Theater after their puppets and equipment had been destroyed during World War II. The two puppets that Narutoza received were Oyumi and Otsuru, the mother and daughter characters in the play Keisei Awa no Naruto. Starting with performances at local schools in Naruto, the troupe collaborated with children’s organizations to produce pieces that were performed at the Otsuka Art Museum. They also performed at the grand opening of the outdoor stage at the Bart Garden theme park and at Nishinomiya Shrine in Hyogo Prefecture, among others, always seeking to convey the charm of traditional Awa puppetry to audiences within and without Tokushima Prefecture. Currently, puppeteers ranging in age from their 30s through their 70s perform with Naruto Puppet Theater under the leadership of the third director, Murakami Kyoko.

+ Read More