Katsina Carvers
January 26–30, 2004

Hopi carvers from throughout the Southwest convened at the School for Advanced Research on January 26-30, 2004. Facilitated by the Indian Arts Research Center, the convocation brought together ten accomplished carvers representing a broad range of views, ages, and experience. Co-chairs Kathy Whitaker, director of the Indian Arts Research Center, and Armand Fritz, a Hopi carver and the 2003 Rollin and Mary Ella King Artist Fellow, asked the participants to explore questions about specific contemporary issues in Hopi katsina carving.

This convocation is the second gathering of carvers at the IARC. The first occurred in November 1999. The 2004 event was held at the SAR seminar house and in the IARC vaults.

On Thursday, January 29, 2004, at 6:30 pm, a reception to honor the carvers was held in the Dubin Artist Studio. IARC and SAR patrons and the general public were invited.

The convocation is part of IARC’s ongoing documentation of its katsina collection. Hopi carvers and representatives from the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office have been talking with the IARC staff about today’s carvers; their identities as individuals, artists, and members of the Hopi tribe; contemporary technology; current values; copyright issues; family genealogies; and the appropriation and commodification of the katsina form by other cultures. IARC director Kathy Whitaker and collections manager Shannon Parker have been conducting interviews with many carvers since September 2003 to ensure a broad understanding of these issues.

The School for Advanced Research thanks the Hopi Tribe for its cooperation with this continuing project and the publication that will result from it.