Photo exhibit showcasing Nevadans, cultural identity featured in Tonopah

LAS VEGAS — “Find Your Folklife: We Are ‘the Folk,’ All of Us,” is on display at the Tonopah Convention Center at 301 Brougher Ave, in Tonopah; an online version of the innovative photo exhibit also is available online, courtesy of the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas. The show can be viewed there through Jim Butler Days which takes place over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The exhibit, curated by the Nevada Arts Council Folklife Program, features photographs of Nevadans dressed to represent different cultural identities, each paired with a photograph of the same person in “everyday” dress as he or she might appear at home, work, or enjoying recreational activities. These photo pairs have been combined on “lenticular two-flip” panels so that as the viewer approaches, he or she sees just one of the photos. As the viewer passes by the panel, it “flips” to the other image as though by magic. The effect is created by interleaving the images on narrow strips that are refracted through an overlying lens to create the startling “two-flip” effect. Each image pair is accompanied by a statement in the model’s own words that speaks to some aspect of cultural community or identity.

Folklife, folk arts, and folklore all spring from cultural identity, which comes from belonging to a social group, according to Nevada Arts Council Folklife Specialist Rebecca Snetselaar. Family heritage — national or ethnic — often informs a person’s sense of self. Cultural identity also may derive from language, gender, religion, age, occupation, and sense of place. Culture is something we share with others in a social group. It’s our folklife: our common values and beliefs, the creative ways we express identity in a group, the knowledge we share, the objects that hold significance and meaning, the activities we engage in as a community.

The Nevada Arts Council is part of the Nevada Division of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. Its mission is to enrich the cultural life of the state through leadership that preserves, supports, strengthens, and makes excellence in the arts accessible to all Nevadans.