In it's 10th year of operation, The Frist Center for the Visual Arts keeps getting better. It's newest jewel of an exhibit, Vishnu, Hinduism Blue-Skinned Savior was five years in the making. Joan Cummins, curator of Asian Art at the Brooklyn Museum curated the exhibit, which premieres at Frist Center and then travels to Brooklyn.
Cummins curated 170 unique, rarely viewed pieces of Hindu art–bronze, (my favorite,) stone and clay sculptures and stunning textiles and watercolor and ink paintings–from internationally-based collectors and museums. It is the first exhibit ever organized to focus on Vishnu, one of the major deities of Hinduism, known for his blue skin, which is said to represent calm.
The exhibit opens a window to Hinduism–some believe to be the world's oldest religion–spanning from BC to contemporary Bollywood memorabilia.
One of the many things that Frist Center excels at is connecting art with community. For this exhibit, they created a special room featuring photographs of religious shrines in the homes of Nashville's Hindu population: "Hindu Home Shrines, Creating Space for Personal Contemplation."
Until April 10, the Young Tennessee Artists showcases Advanced Placement art by high school students in the Conte Community Arts Gallery. The annual exhibit features amazing talent, among them a number of pieces by Hillsboro High School, where my daughter attends. This gallery is the hallway from Frist Center's back entry and is free.
Love, love, love the Frist. Was just there in January and try to go often when I’m in town. This looks like a great exhibit.
Voices of mixed, multiracial kids tell us that idnetity can be a confusing thing for them, not because of who they are, but because of ignoramuses who see their existence as a crisis and won’t accept them due to not being able to categorize them into the social boxes that we like to restrict people to in our respective cultures. Sometimes monoracial parents of multiracial kids don’t understand that, but more often, it is society (often both sides’) that doesn’t get it. ALL kids go through phases with idnetity issues. That is completely normal. Are there extra challenges for kids with mixed’ identities? Sure. But SO WHAT? Being mixed is nothing new. Everyone is mixed, biologically speaking, and racial purity is a social myth. So why are some people so uncomfortable with intermarried couples and multiracial children? It has more to do with their own issues. Being multicultural and multiracial may have its challenges but it is ultimately an extremely rich life to lead. Monoracial children of immigrants have similar issues-any sort of dual or multitudinous idnetity is complex. Should people never immigrate either? Exposing all kids to a multicultural lifestyle is something important in today’s globalized, multicultural world. For mixed kids, fostering pride in all of their sides’ of heritage is precisely the thing to do. How lucky these kids are, the more cultures, the merrier.
I love this post!You know what’s absolutely hiruaiols about these people who put so much significance to a name? They wouldn’t dare say it to a Christian Indian family living in India and calling their son by a Christian or typically Spanish Christian name. The amount of Christian names here were staggering to me when I first moved here. Or Indian names that have crossed borders to become western ones! Just yesterday, my maid brought her 9 year old nephew with her. While he and I played in house cricket (with a soft ball and a small bat) I asked his name he proudly said Micheal Jackson Pinto! Does this mean that this little boy who was born to Indian parents, raised in India, who speaks Hindi/Marathi and barely knows a word of English ISN’T Indian because of his NAME?Puhlease. I think you are doing an excellent job with raising globally conscious children!