The Twin Cities art scene this weekend invites you to explore the impact of gun violence through seven art installations, the intersections of Native American tribes in a mixed media exhibition, and the connection between Mayan mythology and Guatemalan landscapes in an outdoor public art display.
The weekend’s events also include a modern adaptation of Langston Hughes’ gospel song-play, “Black Nativity.”
Guatemalan landscapes and Mayan mythology
The Minnesota Museum of American Art is hosting “El Vaivén,” a public art display that transforms the museum’s skyway into a vibrant portal of Mayan landscapes in Guatemala.
Zamara Cuyún, a self-taught artist with Indigenous roots in Guatemala, adorns the skyway with Mayan deities and evolving Guatemalan landscapes, drawing inspiration from Guatemalan Mayan textiles and European stained glass. Cuyún’s piece—“El Vaivén,” which means “the swaying” in Spanish—starts in the Guatemalan Highlands and guides attendees through mountains, volcanoes, and coasts.
The mountain gradually transforms into the figure of the Mayan deity Itzam Kab Ain, a crocodilian figure who is known as the earth caiman. The figure emerges from the waters of Gucumatz, the Mayan God of wind and rain, and reveals Ixchel, the Mayan Goddess of the moon, cradling a rabbit to symbolize womanhood and fertility.
Cuyún’s work explores the history of colonization and resistance, the connection between nature and Mayan mythology, and the role women play in social justice issues.
Date: Thursday, December 14, through October 2025
Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Location: Minnesota Museum of American Art, 350 Robert St. N., St. Paul. The art is located outside on the Robert Street skyway.
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit https://mmaa.org/.
Native American tribal connections
All My Relations Arts, an American Indian nonprofit art gallery, will host the “Aabijijiwan / Ukeyat yanalleh” exhibition, which means “The Water Flows Continuously” in Ojibwe and Houma.
The collaborative multimedia showcase will feature the works of artists Karen Goulet and Monique Verdin, exploring the intersections of their tribal identities linked by the Misi-ziibi, which means the Great River in Ojibwe.
Goulet from the White Earth Ojibwe tribe and Verdin from the Houma tribe employ mixed media techniques, including fabric scraps, hand and machine stitching, and inkjet prints on vinyl to weave together colonial histories and seasonal rituals that they share along the river.
Date: Thursday, December 14, through Saturday, January 13, 2024.
Time: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The closing reception on Saturday, January 13, is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Location: 1414 East Franklin Ave., Minneapolis
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit https://allmyrelationsarts.org/.
Art explores global gun violence
The Form+Content Gallery is hosting “Rage. Remember. Renew. Seven Memorials to Victims of Gun Violence,” featuring installations by seven artists memorializing gun violence across cultures and countries.
Katayoun Amjadi, an Iranian artist, presents “The Last Thing I Saw,” a memorial for Ghazal Ranjkesh, a 21-year-old protester who was shot in the eye by Iranian security forces during protests in 2022. The installation consists of 504 medical eye patches, thread, paper roll, and vinyl, that reveal images of wounded protesters in between the collage of eye patches.
Artists Tim Harding and Nina Martine Robinson present “Stand Your Ground,” a memorial dedicated to Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Black male killed by George Zimmerman while walking home from a neighborhood convenience store with a box of Skittles. The installation features an artistic rendering of a bulletproof vest with the entire text of Florida’s stand your ground law embroidered across the front, referring to the state’s self-defense law that came under scrutiny in the debate over Martin’s killing. The piece aims to confront issues of racial stereotypes, gun violence, and the legal implications of the law.
Discussions with the artists is scheduled for Sunday, December 17, at 1 p.m. Find additional details about each artist and installation here.
Date: Thursday, December 14, through January 13, 2024.
Time: 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Location: Form + Content Gallery 210 N. 2nd St., Suite 104, Minneapolis
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit https://www.formandcontent.org/.
Langston Hughes’ holiday gospel song-play
The Penumbra Theatre Company, a Black-focused and Black-run theater, will host “Black Nativity,” a modern adaptation of the gospel song-play written by African American poet and playwright Langston Hughes. The performance retells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ as recounted in biblical gospels through the perspective of an all-Black cast.
Musically directed by Sanford Moore and Kingdom Life Church Choir, the show has become an annual holiday tradition, incorporating gospel songs, spirituals, and traditional Christmas carols.
“Black Nativity celebrates the electric, inspiring music that tells us to show and spread the message that love can bring us closer,” said Penumbra’s arts director Chris Berry.
Hughes, a prominent writer and activist of the Harlem Renaissance, explored the lives and experiences of African Americans and confronted racial injustice and inequality through literary works such as “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “The Weary Blues,” and “Montage of a Dream Deferred.”
“Black Nativity,” directed by Lou Bellamy and choreographed by Marciano Silva dos Santos, infuses Hughes’ spirit into a rendition that not only honors his vision but also celebrates the resilience of African Americans.
“We welcome families who have been able to pass the tradition down through generations, and to anyone who would love to make this year the beginning of a new holiday tradition,” Berry said.
Date: Thursday, December 14, through Sunday, December 24.
Time: Various times for different performances. Find the schedule here.
Location: 270 N. Kent St., St. Paul
Cost: Tickets start at $20. Buy tickets here.
For more information: Visit https://penumbratheatre.org/.
