Svrha umjetnosti: inteligentni dijalog ili puki ukras?

This article includes a presentation of the Chiricahua Apache sculptors Allan Houser and his son Bob Haozous, as well as a synthesis of two interviews I conducted with Bob Haozous in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in July 2013 and 2014. In this interview, upon which I will comment when I feel necessary, Bob Haozous voices his opinion of his father’s artwork, which, to his mind, conveys a romanticized view of Native Americans. According to him, Allan Houser’s portrayal of dignified and beautiful Indians cannot be divorced from a specific economic and political context. He also critiques the Indian Market as being the portrait of a romanticized history. Indeed, art that reflects the real plight of Natives is missing from the works exhibited at Indian markets, especially the one that is held in August in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For Bob Haozous, Native artists should use art as both an internal dialogue and as a political statement. His particular view of Indian identity as a philosophy, and not as a genetically-determined identity, is also groundbreaking, as is his artistic critique of Indians who have become ‘cultural zombies.’Ovaj članak prikazuje lik i djelo kipara Allana Housera i njegova sina Boba Haozousa, pripadnike naroda Chiricahua Apache, kroz sintezu dvaju razgovora s Bobom Haozousom vođenih u srpnju 2013. i 2014. godine u Santa Feu u Novom Meksiku. U tim razgovorima, koje ću po potrebi komentirati, Bob Haozous izrazio je svoje mišljenje o očevim umjetničkim djelima koja prema njegovu mišljenju prenose romantizirano viđenje Indijanaca. Za Boba Haozousa Allanov portret dostojanstvenih i lijepih Indijanaca neodvojiv je od određenog ekonomskog i političkog konteksta. On također kritizira Sajam indijanskih kultura kao ogledalo romantizirane povijesti starosjedilaca. Doista, umjetnost koja prikazuje pravu stvarnost i nedaće starosjedilaca nije prisutna u radovima izloženima na sajmovima indijanskih kultura, posebice na onom koji se održava u kolovozu u Santa Feu u Novom Meksiku. Bob Haozous drži da starosjedilački umjetnici ne bi trebali rabiti umjetnost samo kao unutarnji dijalog, nego i kao oblik političke poruke. Njegovo viđenje indijanskog identiteta kao filozofije, a ne genetski određenog identiteta, također je revolucionarno, kao što je i njegova umjetnička kritika Indijanaca koji su postali „kulturalni zombiji“

The Purpose of Art: Intelligent Dialogue or Mere Decoration?

This article includes a presentation of the Chiricahua Apache sculptors Allan Houser and his son Bob Haozous, as well as a synthesis of two interviews I conducted with Bob Haozous in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in July 2013 and 2014. In this interview, upon which I will comment when I feel necessary, Bob Haozous voices his opinion of his father’s artwork, which, to his mind, conveys a romanticized view of Native Americans. According to him, Allan Houser’s portrayal of dignified and beautiful Indians cannot be divorced from a specific economic and political context. He also critiques the Indian Market as being the portrait of a romanticized history. Indeed, art that reflects the real plight of Natives is missing from the works exhibited at Indian markets, especially the one that is held in August in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For Bob Haozous, Native artists should use art as both an internal dialogue and as a political statement. His particular view of Indian identity as a philosophy, and not as a genetically-determined identity, is also groundbreaking, as is his artistic critique of Indians who have become ‘cultural zombies.