Filmmaker aims to document world`s largest Navajo rug

Gallup Independent 05/02/2015
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— The Independent — Gallup, N.M. — Saturday, May 2, 2015
Celebrate! 66
Filmmaker aims to document world’s largest Navajo rug
Kyle Chancellor
Staff writer
arts@gallupindependent.com
CHILCHINBETO, Ariz. —Shiprock filmmaker Dwayne Joe has embarked on a project
to document the creation and history of the
worlds largest Navajo rug.
Joe, a senior at the Institute for American
Indian Art in Santa Fe, first saw the rug in
Shiprock at an event to bring internet to the
area. He said that since then, he has been fascinated by the rug.
“I am honored to be able to do this documentary,” Joe said in an interview.
The project started when he met Eugene
Bedonie of the Shima Rug Foundation at a symposium in Isleta and the two started chatting
about documenting the rug.
The rug, called the “Big Sister Rug,” measures 25 feet five inches by 37 feet 10 inches and
was completed in just two years, beginning in
1977 and completed in 1979. It was first displayed at the Navajo Nation Fair of 1979. The
rug project started as a way to create employment as well as recognition to the community.
After many discussions and meetings, weaving
a large rug was selected to be the project.
The loom was prepared for a length of 38
feet and a width of 25 feet. The rug consists of
five sets of individual symmetrical designs so
the visual effect is that of laying 25 separate
rugs side by side. While the design and pattern
of rugs are almost unlimited, the 25 sets represent the basic patterns used in weaving. The
rugs with the Yei' symbol represent the Holy
People. The two Yei's and a storm pattern represent the world famous Two Greyhill style of
weaving.
Courtesy of Michael Billie
Filmmaker and senior at American Indian
Art Institute, Dwayne Joe poses for a photo.
The rug was constructed by 10 weavers from
the Chilchinbeto chapter, but just three of the
weavers are still alive today.
“Only three of the weavers are left alive. It
makes it kind of urgent for me to get this out
there,” Joe said.
Joe has collaborated with fellow filmmakers
Ramona Emerson, candidate for the Sundance
Native Filmmakers Lab and a member of the
Native American Producers Alliance, as well as
Echota Cheyenne Killsnight, winner of the
Honorable Mention Zia Award at the 2014 Taos
Shortz Film Festival, for this project. All three
are students at AIAI. Emerson will graduate this
Courtesy of Eugene Bedonie
This postcard shows weavers and other members from the Chilchinbeto chapter pose
under The Chilchinbeto Rug, now known as the “Big Sister Rug,” shortly after its completion in 1979.
semester and Joe hopes to graduate in the fall
with his bachelor’s degree in fine arts.
Joe is using the crowdfunding website Kickstarter to raise $30,000 to cover the production
costs of the film and hopes to be able to begin
production in July of this year.
Information:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/1693476307/big-sister-rug
El Morro’s new projector, sound system to debut with ‘Interstellar’
By Richard Reyes
Staff writer
city@gallupindependent.com
GALLUP — After about three months
sitting idle, El Morro Theatre is scheduled
to show the movie “Interstellar” Saturday
for a soft opening to test out the facility’s
new projector and sound equipment.
El Morro is set to screen director
Christopher Nolan’s science fiction epic
“Interstellar” — which stars Matthew
McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica
Chastain and Michael Caine — at 2 p.m., 6
p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost
$2.
El Morro Theatre Manager Frank
Bosler said tickets are available at a discounted price because the screening will
be a test run for the theater’s new Christie
CP2215 digital projector and 7.1 surround
sound system, which will enhance the
audience experience. The theater also features a new movie screen capable of displaying high definition movies.
“It’s bombastic and it’s jaw-dropping,”
Bosler said. “When people hear the sound
and see the image on the screen, your eyes
bug out because you realize you’re in a
theater that’s state of the art just like anywhere in the country. The sound is incredible.” The projector has a digital cinema
package format, so it’s capable of displaying high-quality images from different
sources without any delays or buffering.
It’s also a first-run projector capable of
receiving and playing any new film on
opening day.
However, Bosler said the focus of El
Morro will be on three types of films: second run, repertory and classics. He said he’s
still working out admission prices, but he
wants to keep movies around the $5 range.
The theater also has a renovated projector booth and a streamlined concession
stand. Customers will be able to fill their
own drinks, which frees up employees to
get their snacks ready and get people
through the line faster. Bosler noted how
small the lobby is and how he’d like to
move people into their seats quicker.
He said his focus is on the entire movie
experience from when people park and
walk toward the theater to when they leave
satisfied after a good show.
The new El Morro annex, or performing
arts center, is still under construction, but Bosler said the grand
opening of the new facility is
scheduled June 13 to coincide
with ArtsCrawl. The annex will
serve as a community space and a
sort of black box theater capable
of hosting workshops, expos,
plays and even more movies.
Bosler noted that the theater
has a new phone number and is in
the process of developing a new
website.
Information: El Morro Theatre, 505-863-1250
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Gallup's El Morro Theatre recently finished a three-monthlong renovation in 2012
Zuni
MainStreet
Festival
May 9
By Vida Volkert
Staff writer
eastnavajo@gallupindependent.com
ZUNI — The 3rd Annual
Zuni Pueblo MainStreet Festival will be held at the Pueblo
May 9.
According to Tom R.
Kennedy, director of Zuni
Tourism, the festival will
include eight traditional dance
groups, three main tent sites,
over a dozen venues, arts markets, demonstrations, a powwow, mini carnival, educational booths and Zumba.
The festival will take place
along New Mexico Hwy. 53.
Information: 505-7827238 or www.zunipueblomainstreet.org
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