Jules Tavernier and the Elem Pomo
From your colleague Kathleen Steiger, a short film from the Met:
Watch this short film to explore the painting “Dance in a Subterranean Roundhouse at Clear Lake, California” (1878) by French-born artist Jules Tavernier (1844–1889). In the dramatic scene, Tavernier depicts a ceremonial dance of the Elem Pomo known as mfom Xe, or “people dance,” in an underground roundhouse, Xe-xwan, at Clear Lake, California. Capturing a historical moment, it chronicles an exceptional cultural interaction between California Indians in their homelands and outsiders—settlers and business investors—on November 22, 1875.
