Kryssi Staikidis, an art educator and painter went through a studio experience where she was mentored by female Mayan artist, Paula Nicho Cúmez. From her mentorship experience, she was able see painting in a different and more spiritual way as Staikidis (2006) observed that to the Cúmez, painting was the "transmitting the entirety of one's body, spirit, soul and life to the canvas" (p. 54). Due to this history of genocide and erasure of the Mayan culture, it became imperative for Mayan artists to record their cultural histories and backgrounds through paintings. Paintings became a way to record culture, and as Staikidis recorded, "The constant is their desire to describe and transmit aspects of Mayan cultures" (p. 56). It is important that as art educators we understand how images and visual culture forms can exist as manifestations of parts of our identity, and teaching this to our students is important step as they form their own identities and values.
Staikidis (2014) wrote a journal analyzing how she as an ethnographer was dealing with being respectful while she was mentoring with Mayan artists Pedro Rafael Gonzálex Chavajay and Paula Nicho Cúmez. In this article she discussed how as an outsider researcher, there is a "power dynamic that inherently exists between ethnographer and subject...the anthropologist sees himself as translator for the culture of the other" (p. 68). To give back she would use her platform in the US to promote their art, and as a researcher she made sure to discuss her interpretations with the two artists to make sure they were accurate as can be. As researchers and artists, we need to acknowledge our privilege as well as respect these cultures who hold their traditions as sacred. Colonialism and imperialism in the past has destroyed indigenous cultures so to combat this we need to be respectful and mindful of traditions by not engaging in forms of cultural appropriation and to empower and celebrating diverse cultures in the classroom. |
Sources: Staikidis, K. (2006). Where lived experiences reside in art education: A painting and pedagogical collaboration with Paula Nicho Cúmez. Visual Culture & Gender, 1, 47-62.
Staikidis, K. (2014). Decolonizing methodologies and the ethics of representation: A collaborative ethnography with Maya artists. Inquiry in action: Paradigms, methodologies and perspectives in art education research, 67-78. |