The Girard Wing

The Girard Wing is part of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe and was inaugurated in 1982 with the long term exhibition "Multiple Visions: a Common Bond." Renowned designer Alexander Girard designed the space himself with 10.000 folk items from around the world out of the 100.000 of his collection, which he donated to the museum.

The result is as much about the individual objects as it is about Girard, who grouped pieces together to create vignettes, dioramas, and render an entirely new meaning to that which the objects initially held.

It is also a fascinating curatorial challenge. For one, maintenance must be insane. From the museum's press, Multiple Visions appears to still be a crowd favorite almost forty years later but they are also stuck with it - it cannot be moved; it cannot be rotated... At the same time, I am obviously glad it is there, so I could be transported into Girard's incredible world and aspire to live there, and I know I can return over and over again and discover more each time.