Synopsis of Our Quiyo: Maria Martinez (Short)
Maria "Povika" Martinez created a legacy through the reintroduction of "black-on-black" pottery to her family in San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico. Her influence on the art world left a lasting international impression, but she is much more than a world-renowned Pueblo pottery artist. Maria is our grandmother. She is our Quiyo.
Synopsis of Our Quiyo: Maria Martinez (Full)
A tribute to Maria Martinez crafted with recycled VHS footage, polaroids, stop motion transitions, present-day interviews, pottery demos, and story snippets - told through the eyes of her immediate family. We call her Quiyo, a Tewa name meaning "Our Lady."
Maria "Povika" Martinez was born in San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico. She brought prosperity and endless inspiration to her Tewa village, all while reintroducing the traditional "black-on-black" style of Pueblo pottery. Maria frequently travelled internationally for her pottery excellence.
Today, six generations of San Ildefonso Pueblo potters carry on her legacy. In addition, many friends, spectators, and collectors still travel to San Ildefonso Pueblo to experience the landscape, culture and arts of our Tewa people.
Maria's story is often told through the eyes of anthropologists and art collectors. Our Quiyo: Maria Martinez is the first documentary of its kind created by Maria's great-great-great-granddaughter. The short film recalls memories of Maria Martinez from the perspective of her (our) family.
Our Quiyo: Maria Martinez offers an insight into the Pueblo practices of gathering clay from our ancestral homelands, mixing the clay with volcanic ash, building coil-pots, and firing pottery. All of these practices remain the same as when Maria taught our family.
We are taught from a young age that we come from the clay and the earth, and we will return to the clay and the earth. Maria's influence on the art world left a lasting impression across many borders, but she is much more than a world-renowned Pueblo pottery artist. Maria is our grandmother. She is our Quiyo.
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