National Museum of the American Indian’s Four-day Festival Celebrates Heritage and Culture of Chile

Festival Features Music, Activities, Films and Panel Discussions on Native Culture
September 25, 2014
News Release
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The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian presents “Karukinka—Chilean Patagonia, Artists of the Land Where the Trees Talk.” The free four-day festival will take place Thursday, Oct. 2, through Sunday, Oct. 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. This festival is sponsored by the Embassy of Chile—ProChile.

Karukinka, which means “Tierra del Fuego” in the Selknam indigenous language, will celebrate the Native culture of Chile. The festival will bring Chilean artisans to the Potomac Atrium for an art market, an exhibition of traditional arts and crafts, as well as hands-on activities for kids. A special Chilean menu will be served at the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe.

Throughout the festival, special programs will be featured each day and will have simultaneous Spanish/English interpretation. In the Rasmuson Theater Thursday, Oct. 2, at 11 a.m. a panel discussion, “Native Chilean Women: Challenges and Opportunities—Empowering Indigenous Women and Their Communities,” will feature guests María Francisca Collipal (Mapuche), Anakena Manutomatoma (Rapanui) and Sonia Avalos (Quechua) who will share insights and experiences of their everyday life and work. On Saturday, a panel titled “Native Chilean Women: Challenges and Opportunities—The Role of Women in the Preservation of Indigenous Culture and Language” will feature the same speakers as the Thursday program. The program is co-sponsored by the Embassy of Chile and Freedom House.

Los Sayas, a well-known musical group in Chile, will play Pop-Andean music with traditional musical instruments, including the flute, panpipes and charango, in the Potomac Atrium daily at 2 p.m. Kids and families can try hands-on activities in the imagiNATIONS Activity Center at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

Several Chilean films will screen in the Rasmuson Theater, including: Uho te Uka, la leyenda (Chile, 2013, 51 min., subtitled), directed by Waitiare Kaltenegger Icka, and Ilwen la Tierra Tiene Olor a padre (Chile, 2011, 35 min., subtitled), directed by Francisco Huichaqueo (Mapuche), at 4 p.m.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, visitors can enjoy a tasting event in the Mitsitam Espresso Coffee Bar at 4 p.m. with Chilean wine tasting.

Artisans will be in the Potomac Atrium with their arts and crafts for sale:

  • Daniela Quezada Barría from Hijos de la Patagonia will have figures carved from local reclaimed wood
  • Julia Gonzalez Calderon will show Yagan reed baskets
  • Richard Yasic Israel from Arte en Madera Yasic will have lenga wood sculptures
  • Marcela Alcaíno Mancilla from Joyas de la Patagonia will show silver and gold work along with semiprecious stones
  • Lenka Guisande Diaz from Taller del Fuego will feature metalwork and ceramics
  • Quercia De Smet D’olbecke from Arte y Comunicaciones will display pyrography (wood burning) and prints
  • Jorge Espinoza Caballera will show Yagan items and reed designs
  • Martín González Calderon will have Yagan carvings

Two publications, Patagonia Interactive by Luis Bertea Rojas and Patagonia Spirit by Marcelo Kunstumann Gardella, discuss the region of Magallanes in southern Chile; they will be for sale in the Potomac Alcove area.

For more details about the festival, visit www.AmericanIndian.si.edu. Join the conversation on Twitter @SmithsonianNMAI and use the hashtag #ChileanFest and #Karukinka.

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SI-467-2014