When Jackson Clark gathers Navajo weavings for auction each year, he does so almost out of habit but also wants it to encourage others to keep their traditions alive — for history’s sake.
“A number of weavers who are unable to get the price they want have just quit,” Clark, owner of Toh-Atin Gallery in Durango, said. “That’s my biggest concern. It’s an art form that has certainly been threatened.”
On Thursday, Clark will bring more than a hundred Navajo weavings to Denver for the 25th annual silent auction benefiting the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History’s anthropology section.
Funds are used to acquire and conserve anthropology collections, including an overflowing Navajo textile collection of more than 900 weavings.
While Jackson’s for-sale collection features a 100-year-old weaving that includes documentation from its purchase in 1910, 90 percent of textiles will be from contemporary artists.
“If they can sell one, they might just make another one,” Clark said.
Preserving textiles, some worth up to $22,000, while displaying them takes extra care. Purchases will include a briefing on how to care for them.
In Colorado, keeping weavings out of direct sunlight to prevent fading is most important, said a local conservator, Paulette Reading.
“It’s so sunny here in Colorado,” Reading said. “That, insects and poor handling or improper storage are the big things to watch for.”
Whether it’s just off the loom or 100 years old, there’s a history lesson in the weaving, Clark said.
“It’s not as important to return these pieces to the Navajo community as it is important to preserve them,” Clark said.
Christina Cain, collection manager for the anthropology section of the museum, said studying the textiles has taught researchers how dyes were made and how people survived and migrated.
“They last quite a long time, but you learn more from them if it’s preserved than if it’s in someone’s attic, Cain said.
Cain and Clark both think it’s possible — and said they hope — that Navajo weavings will last hundreds of years.
“We have always felt if you preserve your history, it tells you about your future,” Clark said.
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372 or yrobles@denverpost.com
Auction and talk
The Navajo Rug Auction is scheduled for noon to 7 p.m. Thursday in the lobby of The Denver Post building, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Denver.
The event opens with a noon lecture by Jackson Clark on the history of Navajo weaving.
