Archives Month 2008: Archives and the Arts
Contact: (505) 476-7948; www.nmcpr.state.nm.usThe New Mexico State Records Center and Archives (SRCA) will conduct its eighth annual Archives Month celebration during October. Since 2001, Archives Month activities have increased public awareness about archival holdings and services. Activities have also provided the opportunity to encourage local businesses, groups, and individuals to become advocates for the preservation of New Mexico’s documentary heritage.
The 2008 Archives Month theme is Archives and the Arts. Across cultures, across time and space, the human experience has been expressed through art. Through music, dance, painting, photography, narrative, and filmmaking individuals have communicated how they feel, think, and respond to the world around them. These creative expressions compliment traditional records which may not convey the entire story or experience of a society. The SRCA, in partnership with the Santa Fe Film Center, the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society, and the University of New Mexico (UNM) Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, will celebrate the creative spirit by highlighting archival collections which contain these exceptional resources. Events are scheduled in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. A symposium on Friday, October 17 will be held at the SRCA at 1209 Camino Carlos Rey beginning at 1:00 PM in Room 2027. The first of two panels is entitled Photography in New Mexico: Intersections of Art and History and includes three speakers. Thomas Barrow, professor emeritus at the UNM School of Art and Art History, will speak about Photography: New Mexico, a new book he edited that showcases the photography of 25 New Mexicans. Miguel Gandert, professor at the UNM School of Journalism and Communications, will speak about current research and an upcoming book on plazas in New Mexico’s ancient communities. Mary Anne Redding, photo curator at the Museum of New Mexico Photo Archives, will discuss how photography has been used over the years to document, create, and promote Santa Fe’s image. The second panel entitled Art Organizations and Their Collections at the State Archives is scheduled from 2:45 PM to 4:15 PM. Bruce Bernstein, executive director of the Southwestern Association of Indian Arts (SWAIA), will present information about the past, present, and future of SWAIA. SWAIA sponsors the world-renowned Santa Fe Indian Market each August. Virginia Castellano, grants administrator with the Arts Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, will discuss ongoing projects and new initiatives. The New Mexico Dance Coalition collection is a new acquisition of the State Archives, and board member Norm Johnson will speak about the group’s philosophy and goals and provide video footage of past performances. The Santa Fe Film Center will co-sponsor a screening of early films produced in New Mexico accompanied by a presentation entitled New Mexico’s Silent Film History on Saturday, October 25, from 12:15 PM to 2:00 PM. Guest speaker John Raymond Armijo will discuss the silent film era (1898-1915) in New Mexico with special emphasis on moviemaker Romaine Fielding and his stay in Las Vegas and Silver City. Armijo is a 15-year veteran of the New Mexico Film Office who has also worked as a still photographer in the movie and fashion industries. The Santa Fe Film Center is a division of the Santa Fe Film Festival and is located at 1616 St. Michael’s Drive, in the St. Michael’s Village West Shopping Center. An afternoon of music and dramatic readings performed by descendants of crypto-Jews entitled “Sephardic Voices” will be performed on Sunday, October 19, from 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM, at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. The event, sponsored by the Palace of the Governors, will feature vocal soloists Vanessa Paloma and Consuelo Luz, both of whom express their voyage of discovery of their Sephardic roots through song, as well as poet Isabelle Medina Sandoval, novelist Mario X. Martinez, and playwright Carol Lucia Lopez, who will perform readings from their work. Admission is free. A reception will follow at the Palace of the Governors, where donations will be gratefully accepted to benefit future programs on crypto-Jewish culture by the Palace of the Governors. As part of Archives Month activities, a new exhibit entitled Art in Medicine: On the Fabric of the Human Body will open on Wednesday, October 15 at the Domenici Center for Health Sciences Education Auditorium Lobby at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The exhibit is open to the public Monday-Friday, from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM and will run from October 15 to May 29, 2009. The exhibit is sponsored by the UNM Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center. On Wednesday, October 22, the Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center will host a noontime lecture and reception. David Bennahum, MD, Professor Emeritus of Medicine will give a presentation entitled “The Importance of Renaissance Anatomy to Medicine and War,” at the Domenici Center for Health Sciences Education in room 2112. Please visit http://hsc.unm.edu/library/spc/Art_in_Medicine/ArtinMed.shtml or call 272-6518 for details. The public is invited to all events. No admission will be charged for any event, but attendees are asked to RSVP by calling (505) 476-7948 or (505) 476-7956. Information is posted on the NMSRCA website at http://www.nmcpr.state.nm.us/archives/archives_hm.htm.
