Issue 18
Nature
Issue 18 — Digital Preview
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Craig Santos Perez
INTRODUCTION
Inafa’maolek: On Being and Believing in Nature
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Gina Borromeo / Wai Yee Chiong
DOUBLE TAKE
Faience Sistrum
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Sháńdíín Brown
OBJECT LESSON
Meaningful Pasts Stewarded into the Present: It’s Up to Us
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Josiah Luis Alderete / Stephen Parman
DOUBLE TAKE
Staring at the Aztec Spider Monkey
Worldcat ↗
Contributors
k. funmilayo aileru
Josiah Luis Alderete
Carmen Arnold-Biucchi
Gina Borromeo
Phillip E. Bloom
Sháńdíín Brown
Wai Yee Chiong
Paola Demattè
Benedict Gagliardi
Stephen Parman
Craig Santos Perez
Jen Thum
Brianna Turner
Melanie Yazzie
Issue 18—Nature
In our [Chamoru] culture, inafa’maolek is our most important value. It roughly translates as “to make good for each other.” Inafa’maolek teaches us that all things are connected and related, including people, environments, and all species. Because all things are interwoven, we must always act with guinaiya and respetu, love and respect.
—Craig Santos Perez, introduction
Manual 18 explores human interactions with the natural world, from frank awe and deep appreciation of the immediate moment to eternal questions and ancient unfinished business. This issue of Manual complements the exhibition Being and Believing in the Natural World, co-curated by Gina Borromeo, Wai Yee Chiong, and Sháńdíín Brown, on view at the RISD Museum now through May 7, 2023.
From the Files
Brianna Turner protects the protector through conservation analysis of a carving of Vishnu
Double Takes
Josiah Luis Alderete and Stephen Parman stare right back at an Aztec spider monkey
Gina Borromeo and Wai Yee Chiong rattle a sistrum in honor of the bovine deity Hathor
Benedict Gagliardi and Paola Demattè sing the praises of a Chinese lei vessel embellished with cicadas
Object Lessons
Sháńdíín Brown reflects on how Diné innovation and self-reliance shine in a silver squash-blossom necklace
Jen Thum ponders the nature of authenticity as she uncovers the secrets of an ancient ibis mummy
Phillip E. Bloom explains how a vivid depiction of Buddha worked to assemble the spirits of water and land
Artists on Art
k. funmilayo aileru declares It Was Not a Fight, It Was a Massacre
Melanie Yazzie walks in beauty
Portfolio
A natural progression of works from the collection
How To
Carmen Arnold-Biucchi pays attention to the animal symbolism on ancient Greek coins
RISD Museum Interim Director
and Manual Editor-in-Chief: Sarah Ganz Blythe
Editor: Amy Pickworth
Co Editor: MJ Robinson
Art Director: Derek Schusterbauer
Graphic Designers: Brendan Campbell, Ella Lawless, and Mina Kim
Digital Designers: Brendan Campbell and Jack Tufts
Rights Manager: Sionan Guenther
Photographer: Erik Gould
Printer: GHP
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Cover image:
Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾 北斎
Japanese (1760–1849, b. in Edo, Japan;
lived and worked in Japan)
Fine Wind, Clear Weather ((凱風快晴 Gaifū kaisei) (detail);
from the series Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji
(富嶽三十六景Fugaku sanjūrokkei); ca. 1829–1833;
Polychrome woodblock print
Plate: 25.9 × 37.9 cm (10 3⁄16 × 14 15⁄16 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 20.1185
