Guatemalan Textiles: Heart of the Maya World
Sept. 14 – Dec. 6
This exhibit, on display in the second-floor Higginbotham gallery, presents a spectacular selection of traditional clothing (traje, atz’yeqb’al) from the varied regions of Guatemala. In addition to the embroidered and brocaded traditional blouse (huipil) and skirt ensemble, textiles such as waist sashes, shawls and headwraps will also be on display. These textiles are handwoven using different types of artisanal looms. The exhibit will also be trilingual in English, Spanish and K’iche’, a native language of Guatemala.
All of the outfits selected to be on display are a part of the Sam Noble Museum’s ethnology collection. Many of the outfits were originally donated from Texas A&M University and John C. Pitzer. This exhibition was produced in partnership with the Office of the Guatemalan Consulate General in Oklahoma City.
Beautiful Beasts: The Unseen Life of Oklahoma Spiders and Insects
Sept. 25, 2021 – Jan. 30, 2022
Imagine traveling on safari through a land of bizarre and alien beasts, a world of predators and prey. Who would think that this place exists right outside your back door? Oklahoma photographer Thomas Shahan will take you there. Using homemade equipment and inexpensive lenses, he captures a remarkable world of unspeakable beauty and hidden presence. His fantastical large-scale images of mid-western spiders and insects have been featured in Weekly Reader, National Geographic, Wired Magazine, and Popular Photography.
The exhibit presents a series of Shahan’s immense color photographs alongside descriptions of where and how the photographs were made. The exhibit chronicles the photographer’s tireless search for arthropods, a venture that has made him into an outspoken advocate for education about the role they play in our lives. Shahan’s up-close views of Oklahoma spiders and insects promise to forever change how visitors think and feel about these creatures.
