Man's Ceremonial Pants 1998

Editor: These "Man's Ceremonial Pants," made with cotton textile by Maya in 1998, reside at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. They are strikingly simple, mostly white. But with these carefully placed lines of intricate design… They feel like something so specifically crafted, not mass-produced. What do you make of them? Curator: Well, they whisper stories, don't they? They remind me of when my grandmother would hand-stitch elaborate designs, pouring intention into every thread. These pants…are they clothing? Are they art? I think Maya asks us to reconsider what ceremony *is*. The white is striking, like a blank canvas but the textile is patterned so as not to feel completely empty. What might the wearer's role be in ‘completing’ the ceremonial intent through wearing them? Editor: Ceremony. I was stuck on “formal” instead. So it’s about the intention of wearing, and almost, like, co-creating. Curator: Exactly! Maybe the power comes in the *wearing*, the active participation. These colors embedded horizontally around it draw my eyes around and around, as though i can't fully grab them--that their beauty and presence are never quite done. A ceremony that can never quite finish? What would that *be*? Editor: Hmmm…almost like an ongoing dedication. Something that doesn't need to arrive at an end point to have meaning, huh? Curator: Beautiful. These are definitely not meant for sitting still, that's for sure. Editor: That really shifts how I see them!