Master artist Dan Namingha, of the Hopi-Tewa Tribe, was among five American Indian artists nominated by W. Richard West, founding director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, to represent Indians in an unprecedented global cultural event – the TIMOTCA project. Namingha will join some 45 artists representing 45 nations to date.

TIMOTCA, The International Museum of 21st Century Arts, is an international nonprofit corporation founded in 1980 to foster peace and cultural understanding through the universal language of art. TIMOTCA is premised on the belief that art transcends national borders, inter-cultural differences and racial distinctions, uniquely touching a peaceful and humanistic quality in all of us, expanding our potential to move beyond historic fears toward higher spiritual and evolutionary challenge.

In every country art has been used to communicate feelings, manifest dreams and mark humanity’s progression through history. Believing the universal language of art speaks to us across cultures and across centuries, TIMOTCA will demonstrate that by experiencing art everyone will appreciate the bond that makes the people of the earth more alike than different.

Celebrating the world’s rich and extraordinarily diverse cultures, TIMOTCA will provide an unprecedented forum for painters, sculptors, writers, photographers, poets, musicians, filmmakers and artisans, offering a unique opportunity for the exploration, development and distribution of international cultural programs promoting understanding and peaceful coexistence.

TIMOTCA’s mission is to present the visual and performing arts of all nations and cultures of the world. To date 65 nations, now including the American Indian nation, representing a broad spectrum of cultural, political and philosophical diversity have been visited and officially invited to participate – all have accepted.

One artist is selected to represent each country, contributing an original painting for the TIMOTCA permanent collection and international touring exhibition, “Art Beyond Borders.”

The exhibition premiered at United Nations Headquarters, New York under the sponsorship of UNESCO and has been exhibited at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, World Expo, Lisbon and the Las Vegas Art Museum. Namingha contributed a painting titled “Passage & Symbolism XI.”

He carries a strong family tradition of artistic expression into its 15th generation. His great-great-grandmother, Nampayco, is credited with rekindling the art of Hopi pottery, which his mother and sister continue. He was born in Keams Canyon, Ariz. in 1950 and studied at the University of Kansas, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, N.M. and the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Ill.

“Dan Namingha’s paintings and sculptures are among the most powerful abstract artwork being created in the Southwest today,” said Museum of Northern Arizona Director Dr. Robert Breunig. “His abstract figures allude to the timeless nature of life on the Colorado Plateau and the unity of the spiritual and physical worlds.”

“Through a process of fragmentation and assembly I visually condense my subject matter to convey the greatest artistry with minimal elements,” Namingha said of his work. Landscapes and ancient Hopi symbols, ancestors from his homeland, spirit messengers, kachinas carrying blessings, cloud people, and other abstracted spiritual imagery take form among his signature surface textures. “I see myself as a kind of bridge between worlds, trying to find that center line of balance. It’s not always easy, but I don’t think it’s easy for any human being.”

He is fascinated with dualities and where they meet – physical and metaphysical, night and day, dark and light, life and death, human and divine – and with recurring themes of kachinas, First Mesa, and the Hopi migration story. Namingha’s works are in private collections around the world and he has had numerous one-person exhibitions in the United States and Europe, receiving many awards and honors.

In support of TIMOTCA’s capital campaign, each painting contributed will be published as limited editions of 300 hand-signed and numbered museum quality fine art prints for the world market and offered as a special benefit of charter membership in TIMOTCA’s “Founding Circle of Angels.” Namingha’s work is among the first group of five artists being published, the other artists represent Iran, Israel, Japan and Russia.

The first 150 prints of “Passage & Symbolism XI” will be hand embellished by the artist, and charter members receiving them will get an invitation for two to meet Namingha at a gala concert and dinner in his honor.

“Passage & Symbolism XI” is destined to be one of Namingha’s most important works, as it is the image representing American Indians in a global cultural event. TIMOTCA will officially present an artist proof of the painting to NMAI for its permanent collection.

To become a charter member or make a donation visit www.timotca.org. Of the proceeds from the 300 memberships, $50,000 will be donated to the American Indian Education Foundation.

Never before has there been so great an opportunity for Native Americans to share their cultural achievements and heritage with the world, while revealing American Indians as independent, sovereign nations.

For more information e-mail timotca@timotca.org.