In the Cherokee language, the word “kananesgi” translates to spider. The spider represents creativity and being good with your hands in Cherokee culture, so it is a fitting name for a festival this weekend celebrating the creative arts of members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee.
The annual Kananesgi event in Cherokee features three events: an art market, an art competition and a fashion show.
This year’s event is much larger than the first event which was a pottery show in 2017.
Tara McCoy, a master Cherokee potter, was a little worried that the art form might fade as the potters aged, event organizer Hope Huskey said.
The initial event was a gathering of traditional potters to discuss their practices and techniques. Since then, the event has grown to encompass other art forms and to highlight talented artists in the Cherokee community.
“We really just kind of took it slowly and tried to grow as we got more and more artists interested,” Huskey said. “We really want to try to keep Cherokee art alive. We would love to have more recognition of Cherokee as an arts community worldwide.”
The Cherokee Youth Council, a high school leadership program at the Ray Kinsland Leadership Institute, selected this year’s art show theme: legendary creatures.
“We’re encouraging (the artists) to read up on some Cherokee legends, and maybe find a cool creature or person that they can base their art piece around,” Husky said.
The art show features traditional and contemporary works by enrolled Tribal members.
Participants in the fashion show not only create wearable art, but they also learn about the industry through a series of training sessions designed to help them launch successful businesses.
“We wanted to help provide our artisans and local people with the resources to create a fashion line,” Husky said.
Artists are paired with graphic designers to create unique fabrics and designs.
The fashion show takes place on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort Event Center. The art show and marketplace takes place Saturday and the trunk show happens on Sunday. More details at the Kananesgi website.
