Commercialization of the Navajo Sand Painting Practice

For the West, stratagem has traditionally been considered as the mark of civilization, in so far as humanity is equal to capture and render the essence of beauty and carry through this through their craftwork. ( Gilbert, 1982 Errington, 1994 Witherspoon, 1977) Indeed, art may up to now be a purely Hesperian blade pop out since textiles and jewellery, clothing and cosmetics (to mention only a few of the contexts where aesthetic choices operate) atomic number 18 not usually considered by us to be subterfuge with a capital A. (Gilbert, 1982 168)The understanding and appreciation of non-Western art has therefore been problematic for some(prenominal) scholars, given that branding such cultural products and practices as such carries with it the enthnocentric connotations of the Western definition which usually defines art based on the value system of Western farming (Gilbert, 1982 167-168 Errington, 1994 203 Clifford, 1988221) that, as Robbins (2005) points out, has become much and more implicated with the accumulation of material wealth and the derivation of fulfillment from the consumption of products (Robbins 200520) and where the science of beauty is lamentably static. (Witherspoon, 1977152)Critics ache likewise noted that art in the West has often connoted being art by intention, which are produced and cherished to be perceived for their beauty and for the monetary value that they carried.(Errington, 1994 201) This is distinguished from what is considered as art by appropriation or the things that were produced for purposes other than art except are appraised to be of high value with antiquity or the self-denial of an indigenous or unique identity, thereby alienating them from the refinement that produced them.Witherspoon (1977), for instance, emphasizes the sizeableness of defining indigenous behavior, institutions, and practices within the context of their culture or at the very least, against the backdrop of their view of the world or their ideological place of reference. (Witherspoon 19774) This includes confronting the concomitant that these cultures often evolve or even change with their word picture to other cultures and vice versa.The dilemma over the treatment and definition of non-Western art is illustrated, for instance, in efforts to preserve Navajo back pictures so they could be sold and collect (Errington, 1994 203). The anchor films which were originally used in Navajo religious rites and healing ceremonies have been described as true masterpieces of art for their instinctive awareness of the fundamental principles of design, colour harmonies, and contrasts. (Foster, 196343) Ironically, the sand depictions were created by the Navajo not for arts pastime but as an integral part of religious healing ceremonies to turn up and reestablish of an item-by-item in his or her right place in the the universe and thus cure his or her illness.These paintings often utilized disconsolate sand, cornme al, and other bits of material to depict the Navajos vision of the cosmos and to make up their socio-economic life and other cultural elements.(Robbins, 2005 14 Foster, 1963 43) Foster (1963) notes that the Navajo was able to make over a thousand designs from symbols and patterns that were unique to them, and how, after the sand painting had been painstakingly drawn, the shamans would proceed to rub parts of the design on the individual who was to be cured while praying through chants. For the Navajo people, the sand paintings were indeed germane(predicate) not only as a religious tool but also as a source of magic.Horrified by the fact that these intricate sand paintings were often destroyed by being sit down on or rubbed off during the healing process and thrown out afterwards, concerned individuals found ways to keep these intact using attach and other materials. (Errington, 1994 203) This concern to preserve the end product of a cultural practice for its artistic or aestheti c value, however, contrasts sharply with the Navajos imagination of beauty that lies more in the creative process that is inextricably link with their way of life itself. Thus, beauty for the Navajo lies not in the sand painting that has served its purpose in curing a community members illness but in the entire religious ceremony where the sand painting is but a small component.The careless tendency to preserve or collect art from other cultures therefore engenders the superimposition of another cultures value systems and assumptions of meaning on the cultural practices or even the products of cultural practices (Errington, 1994 205). This is especially true in the case of the sand paintings, where the saving enabled them to become durable and portable, able to be moved to new locations, and hung on the walls as art (Errington, 1994205). With this transformation from a religious and highly satisfying part of Navajo tradition to a home or museum artifact, the Navajo sand paintin g tend to lose its significance as it became divorced from the culture that produced it.Thus, the Navajo sand painting seem to have lost its meaning as it became more and more commercialized. Approriated as art, the practice became insignificant insofar as the culture and the community that practiced it disintegrated, devoiding sand painting of its ritual meaning and significance. whole kit CitedClifford, J. (1988). The Predicament of Culture. Cambridge Harvard University Press.Errington, S. (1994). What became authentic primitive art? Cultural Anthropology, 9(2).Foster, K. (1963). Navajo sand paintings. Man, 63.Gilbert, M. (1982). Art the primitive view. The British Journal of Aesthetics, 22(2).Robbins, R. H. (2005). Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism. Boston, MA Allyn & Bacon.Witherspoon, G. (1977). row and Art in the Navajo Universe. Michigan University of Michigan Press.