May 25, 2007

Dress exhibit is drudgery

Only Hide-Deep

Dress Exhibit at Indian Museum Comes Up ShortSometimes a dress--no matter how historically rare, culturally significant or spiritually meaningful--is just boring. This unfortunate fact has nothing to do with the value of the garment or even its beauty, but rather the circumstances under which it is presented. And one of the surest ways to guarantee that a dress will fail to excite either the mind or heart is to put it in a museum and treat it with too much reverence.

An exhibition of even the most dazzling clothes begins to feel like drudgery when the garments are imbued with so much gravitas that they lose the vibrancy that comes from the quirks, foibles and humor of the people who wore them.

The current exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian burrows deeply into the details of Native American women's attire. But it focuses on the subtleties without clarifying the broader story.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ms. Givhan with her pea-brain critique of traditional Native dress, needs to go back to writing about silly fashion shows. Her ignorance is glaringly apparent and insulting.


Anonymouse

Rob said...

I don't know. Maybe I'm a typical guy, but I don't find clothing exhibits very interesting. But I do like Ugly Betty. ;-)

Which part of the review do you disagree with, exactly? Givhan's main point seems to be that the displays lack context. Without seeing the exhibit, it's difficult to validate that claim.

Anonymous said...

Yeeesh, where do I start? Well lets make this simple, one of my points being is that this woman has no idea or understanding of native culture. Clearly made here by her statement “The influence of those women, who served as both contributors and consultants, is felt throughout th exhibition.(There are videos of them discussing their work.) Their sincerity leaves little room for skepticism,debate or humor. One is informed that the garments are revered as a way of con-necting one generation to the next without ever learning whether that is what makes them exceptional. Is this different, for example, from the inter-generational culture of quilting?”
Skepticism, debate or humor? Skepticism meaning disbelief, debate meaning argumentative and humor? Whats so funny about native woman and their ceremonial dress. She equates and compares these labor intensive dresses to a quilting bee. And makes light of revered garments and their people “not” being exceptional.
Like she said she was bored. And like I said Ms Givhan needs to go back to writing about silly fashion shows.


Anonymouse

Rob said...

I think Givhan is saying that skepticism, debate, and humor would've made the exhibit more interesting. The Native women didn't need to be skeptical about their work, but the show's organizers could've been.

The organizers could've brought in other experts, including Native experts, to comment on the dresses and provide the missing perspective. In my experience, presentations that are too reverential tend to be boring.