A Personal Perspective from Diné Photographer Rapheal Begay
“It’s the process of creating that is most important.” This was an idea that I learned from Dr. Ann Hedlund, one of the most recognized experts on Navajo weaving.
Ann has been a good friend for years. Our family met her through Dr. Joe Ben Wheat at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. Dr. Hedlund went on to be the curator of ethnology and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
She worked with Dr. Wheat for many years and when he retired, she compiled all of his notes and photographs and finished the book he had been writing on Navajo weaving, Blanket Weaving in the Southwest.
The book is considered the bible on historic Navajo weaving. Dr. Wheat had worked a lot with my dad, Jackson Clark Sr. and his partner Mark Winter, as an advisor in helping them put together the Durango Collection of Southwestern Textiles which is now at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College.The standard question upon seeing Joe was to ask, “How’s the book coming?” It is funny, looking back, to see that he had the same attitude about writing the book that Ann discovered about Navajo weavers and their rugs. The process of writing the book was more important than finishing it! So he never did!
Dr. Hedlund did a wonderful job of finishing and completing the work.
Until I learned this lesson from Ann, it was always a puzzle to me that so few weavers kept even one of their rugs. Of course, a big part of it had to be economic, but even weavers that didn’t need the money generally sold their rugs.
When I read her article, the importance of process and the creative work that went into a weaving became clear to me.
Not long ago, I was invited to lecture to a class of graduate students in New York City on Zoom about Navajo weaving.
After the talk, when I was answering questions, a student asked, “Are there any amateur weavers?”
I had never thought of it that way. Almost every form of art has amateurs, people who do the work just for the enjoyment. I couldn’t think of a single one. And yet, I can’t think of a single weaver that doesn’t take pride in their work and really enjoys the creative part.It’s just a different way of thinking about what you are making.
About a year ago, at the Maxwell Museum at the University of New Mexico, there was an exhibit of photographs by a young Navajo artist, Rapheal Begay. I know very little about art photography but his work seemed to emphasize the importance of place. This was not a whitewashed exhibit of pretty scenes on the Navajo Reservation, but rather one that grabbed your attention and made you feel a little like a voyeur. You just knew this man had lived and breathed in this land. He wasn’t a casual visitor.
I was interested in his thought process in creating these images. Was he like the weaver who lived for the process or did he have another goal?
Turns out, it was even deeper than I thought. He is a thoughtful and well-spoken artist. Begay was recently featured in a new podcast called Fields of the Future.
Anthropologist Hadley Jensen from the Bard Graduate Center and the American Museum of Natural History speaks with Diné photographer and curator Rapheal Begay about his life and work and what it means to pay attention to the things we take for granted. She asks the right questions, and he opens up.
I don’t know if it is still happening, but the LOOM Indigenous Art Gallery, the smallest gallery in Gallup (30 square feet), is scheduled to exhibit Rapheal’s photographs in a December Show. And here is Rapheal’s website where you can see his photographs.
