Playing and Dancing Indians

In the 1950s, Rimša gravitated towards decorativeness, experimenting with large areas of colour in search of the rhythmic quality of composition and colour. In Playing and Dancing Indians, the compact arrangement of the figures, their sculptural movement, and the vibrant colour palette, convey vividly the energy of a spirited Aymara dance. Works like this were in tune with the Indigenist movement, which had been popular in Bolivia since the 1930s. This political and cultural trend celebrated the country’s distinctiveness through its ancient indigenous heritage and archaic world-view. However, from a contemporary perspective, the Indigenist movement and its characteristic forms of expression, such as festivals of indigenous music and dance, and the promotion of folk art and crafts, are now seen as exoticising rather than empowering indigenous people. Instead of recognising them as equal citizens, the cultural and political elite of the time often treated indigenous communities as politically ‘harmless’ folklore, a fashionable part of the national identity and daily life. Artists from the urban bourgeoisie tended to overlook the social realities that indigenous people faced: the changes in traditional agriculture, increasing urbanisation, the ensuing unemployment, poverty, and persistent inequality and discrimination. While pre-Columbian customs and religious practices may have appeared to survive, they were frequently stripped of their original meaning, and were transformed into spectacles for tourists.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė
Expositions: “Tropic Scream: Argentina–Bolivia–Tahiti“, 10 June – 5 September 2010, Vilnius Picture Gallery, Vilnius; “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; “Jonas Rimša (1903–1978). The Magic of Fire and Jungle”, 12 February – 12 April 2015, Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum, Vilnius

In the 1950s, Rimša gravitated towards decorativeness, experimenting with large areas of colour in search of the rhythmic quality of composition and colour. In Playing and Dancing Indians, the compact arrangement of the figures, their sculptural movement, and the vibrant colour palette, convey vividly the energy of a spirited Aymara dance. Works like this were in tune with the Indigenist movement, which had been popular in Bolivia since the 1930s. This political and cultural trend celebrated the country’s distinctiveness through its ancient indigenous heritage and archaic world-view. However, from a contemporary perspective, the Indigenist movement and its characteristic forms of expression, such as festivals of indigenous music and dance, and the promotion of folk art and crafts, are now seen as exoticising rather than empowering indigenous people. Instead of recognising them as equal citizens, the cultural and political elite of the time often treated indigenous communities as politically ‘harmless’ folklore, a fashionable part of the national identity and daily life. Artists from the urban bourgeoisie tended to overlook the social realities that indigenous people faced: the changes in traditional agriculture, increasing urbanisation, the ensuing unemployment, poverty, and persistent inequality and discrimination. While pre-Columbian customs and religious practices may have appeared to survive, they were frequently stripped of their original meaning, and were transformed into spectacles for tourists.

Text author Laura Petrauskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, ARTISTS ON THE MOVE (2025). Compiler and text author Laura Petrauskaitė
Expositions: “Tropic Scream: Argentina–Bolivia–Tahiti“, 10 June – 5 September 2010, Vilnius Picture Gallery, Vilnius; “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; “Jonas Rimša (1903–1978). The Magic of Fire and Jungle”, 12 February – 12 April 2015, Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum, Vilnius