World of wonder: ‘Màatakuyma’ a career-spanning look at Hopi photographer, filmmaker Duwawisioma

Renowned Hopi photographer and filmmaker Duwawisioma (Victor Masayesva Jr.), was born in the Hopi community of Hotevilla, Arizona, in 1951. His current exhibition, “Màatakuyma: Now It Is Becoming Clearer to Me,” at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, features digital photomontages and films from his four-decade-plus career. It runs through April 19.

“It’s really a retrospective of his work,” Elisa Phelps, museum curator, said. “He gathered the photographic work together in a couple of series that have a narrative surrounding them. … The work explores ideas of existence and being in terms of Hopi ancestral traditions.”

One series, “Natwani: Corn Story,” represents the months of the Hopi lunar agricultural calendar, while another, “Tuuviki: Mask Series,” explores the idea of spirit masks.

“Initially, you may not say, ‘Oh, that’s a mask.’ But if you step away from it, you’ll see they’re like digital katsinam figures that reveal the spirit personalities and presences” Phelps said. “That series is really fascinating to me, because the more you look, the more you see.”

“Katsinam” (sometimes anglicized as “kachinas”) refer to Hopi spirit beings, as well as their sculptural representations. Phelps encourages visitors who may be less familiar with Hopi cosmology to explore the museum’s core exhibition, “Here, Now and Always,” in addition to seeing “Màatakuyma.”

“There are aspects of spirituality and Hopi life incorporated into that exhibit,” Phelps said. “The museum as a whole, I think, gives folks a grounding in some of the aspects that might not be quite as transparent if they just see (Duwawisioma’s) exhibit.”

Many of Duwawisioma’s katsinam are nontraditional, incorporating contemporary imagery. “Nanavöga” (1996), for example, depicts a “gambling katsina,” whose mouth is a casino.

An earlier version of “Màatakuyma” was presented at Andrew Smith Gallery in Tucson in 2023. In a review of that exhibition for Southwest Contemporary, Isabella Beroutsos called Duwawisioma “one of the most prescient contemporary artists of the American West for his clever use of collage and color to integrate sociocultural themes.”

The current exhibition also includes three of the artist’s short films. “Pott Starr” (1990) features pottery from the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s collection, some of which are currently on view in the museum’s pottery gallery.

Phelps said Duwawisioma’s films and photographic work are both nonlinear, reflecting an Indigenous understanding of time as cyclic. Even the “Corn Story” series, which represents the months of the year, were not created sequentially.

“With ‘Corn Story,’ the images are being used as representations of the lunar agricultural cycle, but the images were actually made at all different times,” Phelps said. “You’ll see on the labels that some of them are very early. Others are from just within the past three years.”

Museum wall labels became a point of discussion between Phelps and Duwawisioma during the planning of the exhibition. The artist, in a statement, expressed discomfort with the Western museological practice of putting extensive explanatory texts and labels next to works of art.

“It is clear to me that our creative ideas, expressions, thoughts and philosophies are inherited from previous thinkers, developed by our ancestors and distilled in our mother tongues,” Duwawisioma wrote. “With this specificity one can only conclude that if you are not immersed in that culture, speak that language, then there is a lot to patiently explain, label, describe, compare, like an insect collection. You end up with an atomic ant or withered specimen.”

Duwawisioma said he would prefer audiences to experience his work “through wonder and not prejudgment.”

“We had some discussion about that, because, of course, my museum training is all ‘You’ve got to put a label on everything,’” Phelps said. “So, we compromised. You’ll see that the amazing images have a title and the date on them, but no additional information. There is, however, a QR code on the title panel, if folks want to have a little more info.”

Having fewer words on the walls has indeed encouraged a greater sense of wonder among visitors, Phelps said.

“It’s been interesting to watch people go through the exhibit, because they do stand and talk amongst themselves,” Phelps said. “He was right. People are creating or coming to their own meaning from the images that are presented.”