ExhibitionsHAPPY JOYLANTA
Past Exhibition

HAPPY JOYLANTA

November 3, 2023 – January 28, 2024

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This immersive environment by designer Tanya Aguiñiga continues the museum’s multiyear series of inclusive and inviting commissions to activate an outdoor space and encourage community engagement. Drawing upon years of Aguiñiga’s collaborative practice, the project, on view on the Orkin Terrace, explores craft and its multiple connections to culture, tradition, materials, function, and community.

The installation comprises many layers, including custom papel picado (traditional crafts of cut tissue paper with global roots) designed by various people at workshops in Atlanta. In addition to the papel picado, decorations from celebratory traditions around the world, such as kites, lanterns, floral garland, and disco balls, envelop the terrace and create a spectacular panoply of layered signs and symbols. Aguiñiga created objects for the space that probe ideas surrounding cultural intersections and hybrid identities; the installation also features custom piñatas based on designs by several contest winners from the Atlanta region.

Welcome to the party!

There are many decorations that explore broad definitions of celebration from the wide range of communities that make up Atlanta. Some specific components include the following: 

Strings of Papel Picado

Cut paper designs in vibrant colors are part of storytelling traditions across the globe. Aguiñiga held several workshops in Atlanta exploring papel picado, as it is known in Mexico. Our thanks to Bethlehem at Birdine Neighborhood Senior Center, Global Village Project, LaAmistad Bolton Academy, LaAmistad Peachtree Church, Refuge Coffee, and Roswell Neighborhood Senior Center for participating in the workshops. Aguiñiga selected eight designs that were produced in Mexico. 

Papel Picado

Piñata Designs

Aguiñiga asked Atlantans to join the party through a piñata design contest. People were invited to submit an idea for an imaginative, expressive piñata that pushed the visual boundaries of celebration. A wonderful variety of designs were chosen from the hundreds submitted, and we thank the following people for their winning submissions: Faysal Ahmed; the Atkinson kids; Haily M. Brown; Kennedy Michelle Carlock; Claire Carmody; Gabriel Lee Jeong and Luna Sohyun Lee; Skylar Jerome; Helena Kessel; LaShunda Long; Jackson Markovic; Eva, Yunona, and Julia Mazor; Talia Moore; Elloisa Ogden; Emma Simpson; Elise Van Dellen; Sky Woods; and Kate Zurinskas. The designs were fabricated by The Piñata Factory in Smyrna, Georgia.   

Julian Rentas

This exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

HAPPY JOYLANTA is sponsored by a grant from the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation, which is part of the family of foundations that includes the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. The Lettie Pate Evans Foundation is an independent private foundation that invests primarily in education, arts, and culture.

Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor

Premier Exhibition Series Supporters

ACT Foundation, Inc.
William N. Banks, Jr.
Cousins Foundation
Burton M. Gold
Sarah and Jim Kennedy

Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporters

Robin and Hilton Howell

Ambassador Exhibition Series Supporters

Mrs. Fay S. Howell/The Howell Fund
Karen and Jeb Hughes/Corporate Environments
Loomis Charitable Foundation
The Fred and Rita Richman Fund
Louise Sams and Jerome  Grilhot
Mrs. Harriet H. Warren
Elizabeth and Chris Willett

Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters

Farideh and Al Azadi
Sandra and Dan Baldwin
Mr. Joseph H. Boland, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Robin E. Delmer
Peggy Foreman
Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones
Joel Knox and Joan Marmo
Margot and Danny McCaul
Wade A. Rakes II and Nicholas Miller
USI Insurance Services

Generous support is also provided by

Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, and the RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund.