(left to right) Brandon D’Souza, Hallie Fried, Kelly Tobin, Michelle Wibbelsman, Micah Unzueta, Emily Brokamp and Tamryn McDermott pose with display cases for the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Collection “Tukuypaq” open house. Credit: Courtesy of Tamryn McDermott
Starting Tuesday, the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Collection’s “Tukuypaq: Open House” will allow objects to speak for themselves.
This collection, which was established in 2015, shares the cultures of the Andes and Amazonia with the Ohio State community, according to the collection’s website. The open house will feature artifacts such as weavings, paintings, ceramic pieces, handmade dolls and story gourds, Michelle Wibbelsman, associate professor of Latin American Indigenous cultures, ethnographic studies and ethnomusicology, said.
“[The open house] crosses between research, teaching and outreach,” Wibbelsman said. “It’s not about teaching one class, it’s about teaching a constellation of classes while reinforcing the type of information and knowledge we are trying to promote.”
The aforementioned “we” refers not only to faculty, but also to a group of dedicated Ohio State scholars, Wibbelsman said. She said the event will be interdisciplinary and interactive, relying on hands-on participation from the attendees and guidance from student curators, who will give tours and answer questions about the collection.
Emily Brokamp, a second-year master’s student in public history and a student curator, said the collection transcends the aesthetic in favor of the intellectual. The collection has no definite beginning or end for viewers, she said. Instead, visitors are encouraged to create their own paths through the collection, allowing for more intimate appreciation of detail and interaction with the items.
“As someone who has worked in textiles and costuming since I was a teenager, I was really drawn to being able to feel the fabric and see the physical work that went into it,” Brokamp said. “Once you get into the theoretical stuff and you see how much thought is in every single thread, it’s kind of incredible.”
Hallie Fried, a fourth-year in international development and Spanish and a student curator, said the planning process was rooted in historical and cultural theory, ensuring that the artifacts are “read” by observers in addition to being seen by them.
“I feel like what I’ve really latched onto in my time here is the idea of looking at art as a form of literacy,” Fried said. “All of the artifacts tell a story in some kind of way, and they give you so much more information than what you would know just by looking at it.”
Micah Unzueta, a fourth-year in Spanish and Latin American cultural and literary studies and a student curator, said a storytelling tapestry, created by master weaver Santusa Quispe de Flores, represents the expansive nature of the carefully curated collection.
“I was able to travel halfway across the world via Zoom and have a conversation with [Quispe de Flores] about what she does, her life story,” Unzueta said. “I think it’s really important that when somebody comes in here, they leave either thinking in a different way or carrying a different perspective than what they came in with.”
Wibbelsman said this research collection is not intended to feel detached or museumlike. She and the student curators all said the experience should not be an optical transaction, but rather a personal commitment to the Quechua language and the honored artists.
“This art is Indigenous knowledge, power and self-determination,” Wibbelsman said. “It is the way by which people choose to represent their communities, identities and more.”
The open house will be in Hagerty Hall 255 and Hagerty Hall courtyard from 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesday. However, the exhibit itself is permanent, and class visits may be scheduled via the Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Artifacts Collection website.
