Author(s): Chloe Henderson
Mentor(s): Alexandra Greenwald, Abby Baka
Institution U of U
The Diné people populate the Southwest regions of the United States. They are known for their unique basketry art and techniques. Traditional Diné practices were lost at the beginning of the 1900’s, and re-emerged around 1970. This re-emergence came with new unique styles, forms of storytelling and figures, that diverged from traditional basketry forms. My research seeks to answer the following question; Why has contemporary Diné basket art changed from its traditional stylistic form? We explore these artistic changes and look at larger reasons for change, including discrimination against Indigenous people, and troubles in art world economics. I hypothesize that design changes in Diné baskets is a reflection of the Diné people's adaptation to art market pressures, and as a way to preserve history. If a shift to contemporary design in baskets shows an increase in value over traditional baskets, then we will see an increase in the financial value of contemporary basket designs overtime in the art market. We will also see more historical themed baskets on the market having increased in value. We include insights from an interview at the Natural History Museum of Utah with Lorraine Black, a daughter of Mary Holiday Black. With the resurgence of basketry, Holiday Black was a trailblazer of new designs. Lorraine’s work utilizes new designs and colors in unique ways. She uses her baskets as a way of storytelling, and preserving Diné history. We held a semi-structured interview about her perspective on changes and influences of traditional weaving forms, and the response to her contemporary designed baskets. We also review literature about basketry by the Diné people, looking at the difference between traditional designs and contemporary basketry styles being practiced today. With our interview, we found that Trading posts are a major buyer of Lorraine’s work, and connecting her with other buyers. Collectors will reach out to her specifically for baskets and even commission baskets. When asking Lorraine if she’s noticed a difference between who’s buying her work when it's more contemporary themed, she said that museums and collectors are mainly interested in her storytelling baskets. Collectors will tell Lorraine stories they would like to have in baskets, and if she feels connected to the story she will take the commission. What we found is that Diné basket weavers started to make more personal stories into their baskets, and this shift in forms was fueled by art market interest.