The Doña Ana Arts Council is adding
something new to the Renaissance Arts Faire this year, a section called Artistas del
Camino Real, which will feature artists
working as they would have during the actual Renaissance in what is now the
Southwestern United States and Mexico, using the methods and materials and
traditions of European and indigenous
cultures. That means the things that would have been produced here during the
period generally agreed to define the Renaissance (the 14th through mid-17th
centuries). Time travelers would have
found Spanish religious art such as bultos, crosses, retablos and hide
paintings, and pottery and other arts and crafts created by Pueblo Indians and
regional tribes.
It's an interesting dose of realism in what is
probably more of a fantasy view of the Renaissance for most of us.
Most of the artists who participate are offering
contemporary arts which are chosen for
the juried show on the bases of quality, rather than any reference to olden times.
But many
RenFaire artists, performers and visitors, I know from covering the event for
more than two decades, put a lot of thought and sometimes extensive research in
to their costumes, displays, vendor booths and performances.
Despite their name, members of the Society for
Creative Anachronism (anachronism is defined by dictionary.com as
"something that is not in its correct historical or chronological time) along with Amtgard and the Adrian Empire, all
make a lot of effort to bring authenticity into their costumes and life within
their RenFaire encampment.
Members of both "royal courts" also
take great pains in their costuming and deportment. And we mean that literally: try spending a
couple of hot New Mexico autumn days confined to those corsets and elaborately
layered gowns, and I suspect that the royals and their followers could tell us
all a lot about suffering for our art. Some of
the artistic derring-do is in the realm of pure fantasy, of course.
Artist Bob Diven and the NMSU engineering department didn't have any records
of Renaissance-era dragons to guide
their creation of the look and voice of Magellan. But their high- tech approach
has delighted kids, who have told me they think the beast looks, sounds and
acts just the way a dragon should.
Sometimes, RenHeads can get downright obsessive
about it all. I saw that firsthand during a few decades in Oregon
I still have PTRFSD (Post-Traumatic RenFaire
Stress Disorder) flashbacks about a weekend
with Oregon Mensa that included a
fair and a party at a restaurant
specializing in authentic period feasts.
I was content to salute my Scandinavian ancestors with a costume store
Viking helmet and a fake fur tunic and
gnaw on a turkey leg, but more than half
of our group seemed determined to spend
the weekend agonizing over wimple construction, authentic cooking techniques
and other anachronistic issues.
I appreciate everybody's dedication, and it's
always nice to be able to learn a little history and maybe pick up some
perspectives on ye olde sometimes-less-than-golden days of yore.
Mostly, I plan to have fun, do some holiday
shopping and then happily drive home in my car to my PC, TV, microwave, TV, hot showers and other
luxuries unknown to the world's most powerful Ren-era kings and queens, now,
thankfully, available to common folk like me.
S. Derrickson Moore may be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com,
@derricksonmoore on Twitter and Tout, or call 575-541-5450.
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