Ambassadors of Folk Exhibit - Lithuanian Straw Picture
Date2010-2011
Mediumborn digital video - MTS file
DimensionsDuration: 52 Seconds
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.274.8
DescriptionVideo showing details in a Lithuanian straw picture made by Aldona Saimininkas displayed in the exhibition, "Ambassadors of Folk: Connecticut Master Traditional Artists."
NotesSubject Note: "Ambassadors of Folk: Connecticut Master Traditional Artists" was an exhibit presented at the Institute for Community Research in Hartford, Connecticut, from June 10 through October 2010.Curated by the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program, the exhibit showcased the artistry of Connecticut folk and traditional artists who have achieved recognition on a national or international scale. The exhibit brought to wider attention the mastery of local artists who are highly respected exemplars of ethnic traditions within their communities. The eight visual artists and two performers featured represent a wide variety of artistic genres and ethnicities and share a high degree of technical skill and sophistication. The artists’ accomplishments represent entire lives spent serving their communities through cultural production.
Artists included Aldona Saimininkas, East Hartford; Romulo Chanduvi, East Hartford; Jampa Tsondue, Old Saybrook; Eldrid Arntzen, Watertown; Paul Luniw, Terryville; Valentine and Aili Galasyn, Canterbury; Shengzhu Chen Bernardin, Torrington; Marek Czarnecki, Meriden; performers Negrura Peruana, East Hartford and Daniel Boucher, Bristol.
Art forms exhibited drew from roots in Lithuania, Peru, Tibet, Norway, Ukraine, Finland, China, and Eastern Europe, but were all made and used here in Connecticut and beyond. One unifying characteristic is that these pieces have been created for use in a community’s traditional practices. For example, the Buddhist thangka paintings and the Byzantine Christian icons encourage active veneration, they serve a purpose beyond being paintings to be viewed. Other forms on display include decorative containers, cloth, commemorative pictures and rugs, wood carvings, and important seasonal decorations such as two types of dyed and etched Easter eggs. Performance traditions originate from African Peru and Québec. All of the art forms are beloved in the artists’ communities in Connecticut, where they serve as important expressions of cultural identity and heritage.
This exhibit celebrated the twenty years that the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program has worked with these and other remarkable traditional artists and their communities across the state.
Biographical Note: Aldona Saimininkas creates Lithuanian pictures and traditional ornaments using straw, a traditional Lithuanian technique. In a time-honored process learned as a girl in Lithuania, she hand-picks rye straw from farm fields and prepares it to form ribbons which she then cuts into pieces, and irons it flat, glues it onto sheets of paper, then cuts shapes and forms which are compiled into geometric patterns or figurative pictures based on Lithuanian designs and scenes. These are assembled onto a dark background in abstract or floral folk art patterns that reflect Lithuanian weaving or embroidery, or to create a scene important in Lithuanian culture. Often these pictures are on a large scale, such as the Madonna commissioned from St. Andrew’s Church in New Britain, and altar pictures at Holy Trinity Lithuanian Church in Hartford. Aldona also makes hanging ornaments from pressed straw or straw tubes fashioned into stars, snowflakes, and birdcages for Christmas trees which glow like gold on the tree; painted Easter eggs; and straw mobiles called sodas (garden). Although a humble plant material, the golden color of the straw shines, signifying light. For over three decades Aldona has given workshops to Scout groups, Lithuanian gatherings and cultural schools, and adult classes throughout the U.S. and in Canada. Aldona’s work has been commissioned by St. Andrew’s Church in New Britain and the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and one of her pieces was presented to Pope John Paul II. Her work was featured in ICR’s exhibit "Hidden Treasures: Connecticut Folk and Traditional Artists" at the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Gallery in March 2001, "Ambassadors of Folk" at the Institute for Community Research Gallery in 2010, and in "Connecticut Traditional Artists and Their Communities: An Exhibit Celebrating 25 years of the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program," at the Connecticut Office of the Arts Gallery in 2016. Aldona plays a central role in Connecticut’s Lithuanian community as an artist, tradition bearer, and cultural ambassador.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
