Vertigo, a Spin on Tradition — Reviving the Past Panel Discussion with Virgil Ortiz and family

Panel discussion with Virgil Ortiz and family, moderated by Charles King will be at 2 p.m. Sunday Aug. 7 . Free with Museum Admission

The panel discussion focuses on the new clay works series called “Vertigo” now open  at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe.

   The centerpiece of the series is the remaking of a photo taken by Benjamin Wittick in the 1880s, depicting Cochiti Pueblo clay figures at Parkers Indian Trading Post in Albuquerque. The original photo taken by Wittick depicts in the background a whimsical castle scene. Wittick was a prominent 19th-century photographer of the American West.

   The piece by Ortiz and several of his family members, titled “Vertigo: A Spin on Tradition — Reviving the Past,” re-creates the Wittick photo, showing clay figures gathered in front of the Charles Bridge in the Czech Republic, which Ortiz visited in 1999. The scene is remarkably similar to the scene shown by Wittick in his photo circa the 1880s.

 This new Ortiz exhibit remains open through Sept. 5.