Southwestern cultures emphasize unity, beauty, harmony and balance—ideals all reflected in their art.
Southwest Native societies have complicated social structures. Tribes such as the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni include many divisions—by clan, gender and ceremonial society, for example—but these groups overlap one another, creating a complex web of relationships. Many rituals and traditions further unite these divisions.
The cultural ideal of balance and harmony is reflected in the colors, patterns, symbols and images in art—and in the process by which art is made. Because beauty cannot be separated from the larger ideal of harmony in the universe, creating art is a central part of a spiritually healthful life. Making art thus serves the same purpose as the sacred rituals it often depicts: to create balance in the individual, the community and the natural world.
