From South African apartheid relics to Yakama regalia, Seattle Art Fair returns

The Seattle Art Fair returns this week, featuring galleries that celebrate a range of styles from glass art to interactive installations. Fairgoers can expect to see symbols of South Africa’s apartheid era and beadwork by Yakama Nation descendants, among other exhibits.

Thousands of artists, collectors, and art enthusiasts are expected to attend the fair, which runs from Thursday through Sunday at the Lumen Field Event Center.

“The Seattle Art Fair connects back to the city by highlighting its vibrant local art scene while also bringing in national and international artists,” said Seattle Art Fair Director Kelly Freeman.

“Strong Spirits: Collaborating with Ancestors,” a tribute to artist Epiphany Couch’s grandparents, will be the largest exhibit Couch has produced in her home state of Washington. She and her family rebuilt her late grandmother’s kitchen, adorned with traditional Yakama beadwork.

“She really kind of dictated this work to me. And so I kind of almost just feel like I'm the conduit to sharing it,” Couch said.

Couch is of Puyallup, Yakama, and Scandinavian heritage and grew up in Tacoma. In the Yakama tradition, would-be beaders must be initiated to participate in the art; Couch was not.

She said she didn’t participate in the work until her grandma came to her in a dream, showing her Indigenous heritage regalia. She and her sisters interpreted that dream as an invitation to participate in beadwork.

“This is another way that I'm being kind of ushered into this next stage of work,” Couch said.

While some of Couch's work will be up for sale during the fair, the regalia in “Strong Spirits” won’t be.

“My grandma instructed me to make it for myself, and she's the boss,” Couch said.

Also coming to the art fair is Ralph Ziman’s “The Casspir Project,” a multimedia installation featuring imagery of South Africa’s apartheid era.

The centerpiece of the exhibit, “SPOEK1,” is a sculpture made from a casspir, a military transport truck used as a crowd control weapon by South African Police. That was until former President Nelson Mandela decommissioned the vehicles, signifying the end of the racial apartheid that kept white and non-white South Africans from living amongst each other.

“The work stems from the oppression of apartheid, but instead of focusing on the past, it reclaims the violent imagery and tools from that time, repurposing them as a vibrant celebration of South Africa’s creativity and community,” according to a description of the exhibit on the Seattle Art Fair website. Other parts of the project include photos, oral history, and a documentary film.

The exhibits at this year’s Seattle Art Fair encourage people to critically think about social, political, and historical issues, said Freeman, the fair’s director.

The fair begins Thursday at 6 p.m. for holders of exclusive passes, which cost $65. For attendees who purchase general admission for $35, the fair starts Friday at 11 a.m.