Rhythm and Ritual

Rhythm and Ritual: Music of the Ancient Americas

Museo de las Americas

861 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204

Curated by Jared Katz, Mayer Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow for Art of the Ancient Americas at the Denver Art Museum

June 18-Oct. 17, 2020

Admission: $8; Students, Seniors & Military: $5 (Reserve tickets here. Limited to 10 visitors per time slot.)

Review by Courtney Lindly

The latest exhibition at the Santa Fe Art district’s iconic hot pink building, Museo de las Americas, is Rhythm and Ritual: Music of the Ancient Americas curated by Jared Katz. This collaboration with the Denver Art Museum focuses on musical instruments from the Andean, Mayan, and Olmec cultures (in modern-day Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru) with dates ranging from 2500 BCE to 1550 CE. Encompassing a wide range of places and times, the exhibit provides a comprehensive view of the uses—in private and public—as well as the lasting legacies of these instruments.

An installation view of Rhythm and Ritual: Music of the Ancient Americas at the Museo de las Americas. Image by DARIA.

Unknown Mixtec artist, Mexico, Carved Conch Shell Horn, 1300 CE, shell. Denver Art Museum Collection: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Morris A. Long. Image by DARIA.

The first gallery space, organized via musicology classification, displays three categories of ancient artworks: aerophones, which produce sound when the player blows air through a tube; idiophones, which produce sound when someone strikes or rattles them; and membranophones (or drums), which produce sound when struck. There are numerous aerophones in the exhibition, including a well-preserved and masterfully carved Conch Shell Horn dating from 1300 CE. The artist carved the shell in such a way that the exterior, which is white, reveals a secondary, rich orange-red layer. Along with incised patterns, it features an image of a young warrior wearing what appears to be a jaguar headdress.

Unknown Colima artist, Mexico, Figurine of a Conch Horn Player, 100-1 BCE, ceramic. Denver Art Museum Collection: Gift of Robert J. Stroessner. Image by DARIA.

In the same case is a Figurine of a Conch Horn Player from the much earlier period of 100-1 BCE, indicating that these cultures long used the shell as a musical instrument. Ceramic replicas inspired by the conch’s standard structure appear in other areas of the exhibition as well. According to the exhibition text, these peoples of Mesoamerica viewed the conch as a naturally-made horn representative of the wind and sea.

A rendering of a piece of graffiti carved into the wall of a structure at the site of Tikal, Guatemala illustrating a ball court, ballplayers, and a musician seated on the side of the court. This image appears with one of the exhibition texts for Rhythm and Ritual.

Musicians also used the conch shell horn during the ritual and communal practice of the Mayan ball game. Knowledge of this sport comes primarily from the artistic depictions found in figurines and on ceramic vessels. A reproduction on an exhibit plaque of one such depiction from Guatemala shows etched graffiti of a musician playing a horn and sitting on a structure that towers above the action of the game. The exhibit posits that both music and sport are universal, defying space and time, allowing us to see ourselves in communion with the various, historic groups who participated in these pastimes.

Another instrument that falls under the category of the aerophone, like the conch horn, is the ocarina, which artists created in a myriad of forms—from frogs to figurines. Ocarinas always have a mouthpiece and finger holes, or stops, which players use to adjust the pitch. Musicians played ocarinas in groups with other types of aerophones, such as whistles or flutes, which they organized to come together to create cohesive melodies.

Unknown Maya artist, Guatemala, Ocarina in the Form of a Female Figure with Monkey and Child, 600-900 CE, ceramic with pigments. Denver Art Museum Collection: Gift of Exeter Drilling Company and Mr. and Mrs. Morris Long. Image by DARIA.

One ocarina in particular demonstrates the colonial history of Latin America, and Guatemala in particular. At some point in time, someone painted the Ocarina in the Form of a Female Figure with Monkey and Child, dating between 600 and 900 CE, to appear instead as the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child. Even after restoration, we can still detect the remains of blue-painted clothing and a golden halo. This single piece encapsulates the all-too-common experience of a dominant culture integrating with the indigenous, asserting its power over every component of a society.

Clarissa Tossin, Los Angeles, Ch’u Mayaa, 2017, HD Single-Channel digital video, color, and sound. Image by DARIA.

A key contemporary work in this exhibition is Clarissa Tossin‘s 2017 Ch’u Mayaa—a video performance art piece which sets forth a commentary on our current (post)colonial world. Tossin filmed the work in Los Angeles at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, which Wright designed in the Mayan Revival architectural style. In the video, Tossin poses in front of the house in ways that mimic ancient Mayan figures found on ceramic vessels and murals such as those in the exhibition. An accompanying soundtrack of music composed with 3D-printed replicas of the ancient musical instruments will come out later this year.

Curator Jared Katz intended some of the instrument reproductions to be accessible for the public to engage with and play as part of the exhibition. However, the Museo had to postpone this plan due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless, I applaud Katz’s vision of a hands-on museum experience. Rhythm and Ritual does include an exquisite audio tour that provides musical samplings of the 3D-printed replicas and the original instruments.

In the exhibition texts throughout, Katz prompts visitors to “imagine,” encouraging us to take in and reflect on the sound and experiences which music facilitates. Katz emphasizes that these functional pieces are not merely static “artifacts.” He curates with awareness, embracing context and prompting visitors to visualize the rituals and ancient spaces where these instruments were integral components.

Courtney Lindly is a recent graduate from University of Denver with a B.A. in Art History— focusing on modern and contemporary art—and Business Administration. She is fascinated by the complexities surrounding art appreciation and exchange, specifically the global art market. She enjoys making accessible opportunities for creative experiences and a strong cup of black coffee.