Gabriela Olmos’ Work is Featured in UAF’s Exhibit
The anthropology department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks hosted an exhibit of Gabriela Olmos’ research work during Hispanic Heritage Month. Gabriela has been studying the Hispanic community in Alaska for the past 9 years. In addition, she teaches Anthropology and Spanish at the University of Alaska. In a statement to the media, the anthropology department said, “We are honored, proud, and extremely fortunate to showcase the work of Gabriela Olmos Rosas in the Videography Gallery of the UAF Anthropology Department. We encourage our readers to learn more about the communities, artists, and stories represented in this showcase, which features just a handful of examples from Gabriela’s rich and far-reaching body of work. And we invite everyone to visit the Anthropology Videography Gallery on the third floor of the Bunnell Building, UAF Troth Yeddha’ Campus.
A doctoral candidate in our PhD program, Gabriela teaches in the UAA Spanish and UAF Anthropology programs while completing her dissertation on spirituality and history of Alaska’s growing Mexican community. Our showcase speaks to four areas of Gabriela’s work: 1. That of a writer and author of twenty books for young readers. For this part of the exhibition, we are featuring three of the videos that a national program serving Mexico’s Indigenous communities produced as part of its reading campaign “Leamos Juntos [Let’s Read Together],” using Gabriela’s book “Con los ojos cerrados; sueños de los niños indígenas [With Eyes Closed; Dreams of Indigenous Children].” 2. That of a longtime writer and senior editor of Mexico’s premier journal Artes de Mexico. We are featuring a video dedicated to the series of interviews Gabriela conducted with a luminary scholar, photographer, and art collector, Ruth Lechuga, for the project The Other Faces of Mexico, which focused on Ruth Lechuga’s collection of masks. 3. That of an internationally acclaimed curator. The video about Huichol art by José Benítez Sánchez, a revered knowledge bearer of Huichol culture and spirituality, focuses on the exhibition called Wixaritari [People Walking Toward Dawn]. After years of working with José Benítez Sánchez to create the exhibition, Gabriela was able to bring it to museums in Japan, France, Canada, and the United States. We are especially thankful that while touring with the exhibition for its showing in Alaska, Gabriela met her beloved husband, Lauren Horn of Anchorage, subsequently joining our Alaskan anthropology community as a PhD student and colleague! 4. That of a dedicated scholar of cultural diversity, immigrant communities, and the Latino experience in Alaska. The fourth of our Videography Gallery screens presents Gabriela’s curator lecture on the landmark exhibition Nuestra Huella [Our Footprint]: Latinos in Alaska, created for the Anchorage Museum. This screen also features a video showcasing Gabriela’s collaboration with African American artist Shirley Mae Springer Staten on a project dedicated to Anchorage, one of the most diverse cities in the US. Shirley Mae Springer Staten and Gabriela Olmos Rosas interviewed more than sixty Anchorage children of different ancestries, places of origin, cultures, and religions, asking the children about their heritage, aspirations, and dreams. |