Following the Hopi Ceremonial Calendar: The Tradition of Katsinam Now on View at SFO

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Following the Hopi Ceremonial Calendar:
The Tradition of Katsinam Now on View at SFO

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco International Airport’s new exhibition, Following the Hopi Ceremonial Calendar: The Tradition of Katsinam, presents more than one hundred hand-carved, wooden representations of katsinam, the ancestral spirits of the Hopi people of northeastern Arizona. To the Hopi, these carved figures - also referred to as katsinam - are the personification of the katsinam spirits themselves.

According to the Hopi’s complex religious traditions, katsinam live among the Hopi for approximately six months of the year, arriving in December at the winter solstice. Katsinam are called upon to achieve bountiful harvests, maintain balance in the world, and advance spiritual growth and maturity for humanity. During ceremonies throughout the Hopi calendar, the carved representations of katsinam are given to infants and young girls to teach them about the spirits.

The katsinam and related carvings featured in the exhibition date from the early to late twentieth century. The objects included in the exhibition not only illustrate Hopi craftsmanship and artistry, but also provide insight into Hopi religious and cultural traditions.

All objects are on generous loan from the California Academy of Sciences, Department of Anthropology. Following the Hopi Ceremonial Calendar: The Tradition of Katsinam is located pre-security on the Departures/Ticketing Level of the International Terminal in Gallery A2. The exhibition is open to the public, free of charge, twenty-four hours a day, through January 15, 2007.

San Francisco Airport Museums

The San Francisco Airport Museums program was established by the Airport Commission in 1980 for the purposes of humanizing the Airport environment, providing visibility for the unique cultural life of San Francisco, and providing educational services for the traveling public. The Museum was granted initial accreditation from the American Association of Museums in 1999, reaccredited in 2005, and has the distinction of being the only accredited museum in an airport. Today, the San Francisco Airport Museums features approximately twenty galleries throughout the Airport terminals displaying a rotating schedule of art, history, science, and cultural exhibitions, as well as the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, a permanent collection dedicated to the history of commercial aviation.

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