Folklorist Jack Santino addresses USU about the “Weavings of War, Fabrics of Memory” Exhibition
A conference held Tuesday, October 9th at USU allowed folklorist Jack Santino to address the exhibit “Weavings of War, Fabrics of Memory” going on from now until November 27th. According to Santino, the exhibit contains many different cloth works from around the world resonating various interpretations of the war. He says the artwork, rugs and textiles come from places such as Afghanistan, Chile and Cambodia and other “hot spots” of the world. The artwork oftentimes contains helicopters and tanks and other visuals associated with war. “The very existence of these works of art is a revelation to many people,” he said, “real people use tradition to deal with the challenges of life.” He says the people use these forms of artwork to express their opposition to war.
Santino says he focuses on the strife and suffering of the world, particularly Ireland. He has traveled to Ireland in the early 90’s, mid 90’s and most recently, last fall. According to Santino, Ireland has struggled with the contentious power struggle between the Irish Republican Army and the Ulsters, who identify themselves as British. Because the Country is split between two opposing religions, Protestant and Catholic, its history is stained with rivalry and war which escalated to the infamous “Bloody Sunday” he says.
“What I was most struck by was the way in which people identified with one side or the other,” he said. ” Both call it home, but both see it as a different home.”
Santino discussed his observations through a series of slides, commenting on the forms of expression, used to display opposition by the Irish. He said the people use murals, monuments, arches and forms of graffiti to show which side they identify with. Many people paint curbstones like the British flag, or like the the Irish Nationalist flag.
“It’s color-coded,” he says, ” It’s a visual language that is immediately understood.”
Santino says it is more about who is entitled to the land of Ireland rather than a religious or border war. He explains the children form their attitudes at young ages which continues the the on-going struggles. Santino displayed an image of one young boy holding a gun to another young boys head. He said he is convinced the attitudes and beliefs are passed on to the children and it is impacting them tremendously.
“They grow up inhaling ideology,” he said
Santino says he doesn’t want everyone to believe that all of the people of Ireland are in turmoil because there is only a portion of the population who encompasses strong political and religious beliefs that instigates opposition. He calls Ireland a “lovely” place, even though its unity may suffer.
Lisa Gabbert, assistant professor of folklore and American Studies at USU, calls Santino an “accomplished person” who is an internationally known scholar. According to Gabbert, Santino has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, has been the President of the Folklore Society from 2001-2004,and has worked at the Smithsonian Institute. He has published eight books, many of them about Halloween. His most recent publication is titled “Spontaneous Shrines and the Public Memorialization of Death.”
Santino says he believes that Folklore studies some of the most important situations in life. Though he believes folklore is often overlooked as fun, he says the underlying principles deal with truthful, serious issues especially pertaining to war and ordeal. “People will Kill over folklore. People will die,” he said.