“Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California’s South Coast Range” is a unique and thought provoking exhibit coming to San Benito County starting Saturday, March 15. The exhibition of rich and colorful portraits by documentary photographer and filmmaker Kirti Bassendine features Indigenous community members from the South Coast Range. The showing will include gorgeous photos of contemporary local representatives from the Indian Canyon Chualar Tribe of the Costanoan-Ohlone People and the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.
The large portraits will also be accompanied by films that give residents the opportunity to hear directly from local Native American community members about current regional and national issues. “Bassendine’s photographs are accompanied by powerful personal statements from Native community members calling attention to cultural connections to the land, rematriation (restoring the relationship between Indigenous people and their ancestral land), and climate change,” said the news release announcing the exhibit.
The event opens with the photographic exhibition and a documentary film screening– previously debuted at de Young Museum of Fine Art, SF last year. Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California’s South Coast Range will be hosted at Luna Gallery and Eco-Art Studio in San Juan Bautista. The free exhibition runs from March 15 – April 27th, Saturdays 12:00- 4:00pm and Sundays 12:00- 4:00pm.
Special events take place on March 15th. Opening reception at Luna Gallery and Eco-Art Studio 4:00pm- 6:00pm at 107B The Alameda, in San Juan Bautista, CA. 95045. (Free)
The film portion of the event will be hosted at El Teatro Campesino 7:00- 9:00pm, 105 4th St. San Juan Bautista, CA 95045. (Eventbrite tickets $20- $40 sliding scale.) Following the screening, Kirti Bassendine (filmmaker) and Jennifer Colby (founder of Luna Gallery) will host a discussion with the audience followed by a Q&A session.
Eventbrite tickets are limited and should be reserved prior to the film showing by going to this link: https://shorturl.at/86q6K Tickets may still be available at reception depending on seating availability.
In the news release from the artist, Bassendine said she “has always been intrigued by human relationships — especially how they impact the discovery of identity and belonging within one’s culture and the wider world.”
Ten Participating Tribal Groups:
Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, Confederated Villages of Lisjan, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, Tamien Nation, Indian Canyon Chualar Tribe of the Costanoan-Ohlone People, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the Rumsen Ohlone Tribal Community, Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, the Salinan Tribe of San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties, and the Salinan T’rowt’raahl Tribal Communities. “We are here, we have always been here,” is the fundamental message, wrote Bassendine about the project.
The project has received widespread and positive media coverage. For example:
● “Unique perspectives and urgent warnings about climate change are captured in both moving pictures and still portraits”. Dan Ashley and Tim Didion, ABC7 News.
● “To bring together so many tribal leaders and cultural leaders in this area, it really hasn’t been done in this way before”. Natalia Gurevich, San Francisco Examiner.
● “An incredible opportunity for everyone to hear from community members in their own words”. J.L. Odom, SFGate.
The Contemporary Indigenous Voices exhibition and films have been received very positively by indigenous cultural bearers, community leaders and museum curators. For example:
● Gregg Castro, Culture Director of The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone praised the project for “highlighting the resilience and enduring presence of California’s Indigenous peoples”, further stating that “Bassendine’s work has become an essential project for the further education of the public in California of our current existence and that we are not ‘living in the past.’’
● Christina Hellmich, Curator in Charge of the Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, at de Young Museum, San Francisco “Bassendine’s work is important to the state of California as a cultural heritage archive and as a source of community action and education. She added the work “brings forward voices that have been long unheard, fostering understanding and connection in a way that is both powerful and necessary.”
BenitoLink was the fiscal sponsor for Contemporary Indigenous Voices of California’s South Coast Range. The exhibit has been presented in Santa Cruz County and San Francisco prior to coming to San Benito County. California Humanities, San Francisco Arts Council and Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) were major funders for this project.
The San Benito Arts Council and Community Foundation for San Benito County were additional sponsors.
For more information about the event, contact Jennifer Colby, 831-623-2783