Necklace c. 1935

Editor: This is a silver necklace by Navajo artists (Diné), created around 1935. I notice that it's comprised of simple silver beads, interrupted by these tiny crosses, and then it has this sort of horseshoe pendant... It feels simultaneously traditional and, well, kind of punk. What catches your eye about it? Curator: It whispers stories, doesn’t it? I am interested in that central pendant—the *naja*. Before its integration into Navajo artistry, that crescent form was actually widespread as a protective symbol. In many cultures, it symbolized warding off evil. Think of it less as adornment, and more as a talisman carried close to the heart. What stories do you imagine it carries now? Editor: I didn't realize that, I’d focused on the Christian cross as symbolic of how Indigenous people and colonizers blended their culture, a visual symbol of syncretism… a fraught syncretism perhaps. Curator: Absolutely. It's easy to interpret those crosses through a lens of forced conversion, but consider also the agency of the Diné artisans. They weren't simply mimicking; they were adapting and embedding new meaning into existing forms. It invites us to think about power, cultural exchange, and how symbols can evolve through appropriation and reinterpretation, wouldn't you say? The material itself has a history—what do you make of it? Editor: Now that you mention it, the silver is so elemental – it echoes the stark landscapes and skies. There's a kind of visual link between the object and the environment it came from... Almost a meditation, wouldn't you say? Curator: Exactly! Perhaps its starkness and reflective surfaces acted as an ever-present reminder of both resilience and adaptability... Editor: I hadn't considered it from that point of view, focusing too much on superficial syncretism and failing to see the material and adaptation behind it. Thank you for expanding my perspective! Curator: The fun is in expanding *everyone's* perspective and engaging in seeing more beyond the surface and into the richness beneath!