Many people gathered in the main exhibition hall of The Dena’ina Center in downtown Anchorage Thursday to celebrate the opening day of the Alaska Federation of Natives arts market.
Every every year Indigenous artists gather for three consecutive days of the festival to offer carvings, kuspuks and fur-lined hats, and a variety of jewelry. Festival organizers claimed the market this year was more popular than ever before.
The convention this year included over 200 artists from Alaska as well as the lower 48. The one who was in the middle were George J. Bennett Sr. was one of the Lingit artist hailing from Sitka. The bentwood boxes he made, decorated with formline designs, were already half gone by the end of the day.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I I had six to eight people gather at my dining room table prior to when I was willing to quote them,” Bennett said. “They were looking for boxes … so approximately 8 or 9 boxes were sent out within half an hour when I arrived. !”
Bennett has been producing boxes for the past 25 years. He is in his 5th market. His wife hails from the Interior which is why they both enjoy getting together with all their friends that they meet.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”This is a bit similar to the melting pot” he explained. “It’s like sitting on an edge and watching your friends pass through and you look at them and are able to wave .”
Jack Bonney from Visit Anchorage has been instrumental in organizing the AFN convention as well as the market for this year. He stated that every region in Alaska is represented.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”It’s an example of the entire state that is Alaska in Anchorage with the form of a room or 2 over two or three weeks,” he said.
Bonney said that the market draws hundreds of visitors to AFN each year. In the upstairs, famous leaders are in attendance and crucial discussions about Alaska Native issues take place. The market, however, can also be an entrance point to general public.
“The Arts Market is one of the major draw for those who might not be aware of what AFN is all about It could be their first experience that leads to a discussion about the work AFN is doing within communities,” the man said.
Trinity Villalobos came to the convention from Fairbanks to work. However, like all the other people who attended AFN the convention, she and her acquaintance Tiara Davis had a few minutes to search for things that would not cost a lot.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I was in search of something interesting, something distinctive that I could be able to afford,” Villalobos said.
She was looking at Halloween-themed bracelets, while Davis was looking at an hummingbird hairclip.
Its style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”We discovered that, as with the beadwork, it takes a long time, so you need to be able pay people the amount they’re worth or the amount they’re offering,” Davis said. “But it’s possible that the cost may not be what you are able to bear. .”
The first time ever, the market spilled into an upstairs room. Vina Brown set up her table in the room. Vina Brown is Hailzaqv and Nuucaanul who hails of British Columbia. She travelled to Lummi, Washington to the market for the first time. It was her first time to Santa Fe Indian Market and other markets.
It’s a great style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I was a bit unsure what to think about. But it’s quite impressive so far. There are lots of individuals,” she said.
The company she runs is Copper Canoe Woman, based on her Indigenous name, laqvas glwaqs and is a traditional design like formlines with a modern flair.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”Just just as our rights don’t get preserved in the past, so is our art not preserved in the past. We’re able to evolve and pivot and raise that,” Brown said.
Many artists are sold out by the last day of their tour The final day is when many artists sell out, and Brown declared she was manifesting the same thing — to pay for her travel expenses.
In the hall that was in use, Bennett declared that whether he had sold all his boxes or not, watching that people were happy with his work was more than enough.
“span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”It’s a great way to communicate and share the culture of each other through this type of work,” he explained. “So it’s beautiful.”
