Come See Gustave Baumann’s marionettes performing live! Sunday December 18th 1-4pm. Free event open to the public.

Born in Germany in 1881, Baumann emigrated to the United States at the age of 10, returning to Munich in his 20s to study at the Royal School of Arts and Crafts. In 1918, Baumann moved to Santa Fe, married the singer/actress Jane Henderson and together they raised their daughter, Ann. During this time, he and Jane were also developing the marionette theater that would eventually become a part of Santa Fe legend. Though initially intended as a form of entertainment for family and friends, the Christmas performances grew so popular they were eventually moved from their living room to such venues as St. Francis Auditorium. Upon his passing in 1971, Jane and Ann donated Baumann’s work to the New Mexico Museum of Art.

Eric Garduño and Matthew Rana’s The People v. Bruce (parrhesia), an installation in sculpture, photography, and sound explores the first amendment rights that were challenged in the 1960s during the trial of comedian Lenny Bruce.

AGITATED HISTORIES PRESENTS an international and intergenerational group of artists whose works, in a range of media, create a dialogue with historic figures, movements, and events. For some of the artists in this exhibition, history is a subject to be challenged, re-written, or recreated, while for others it is a source of inspiration and creative energy. Through Agitated Histories, our understanding of historic events is upended while new histories are brought to light. The works in the exhibition explore four central themes: the Archive, the Reenactment, the Persona and the Intervention.

Agitated Histories is organized by SITE’s Phillips Director and Chief Curator, Irene Hofmann and was presented at the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore in 2011. It appears in an expanded form at SITE Santa Fe in collaboration with SITE’s Assistant Curator, Janet Dees.