Mouse Woman drawing by Luke J. Parnell



The Beat


A monthly newsletter about the art of

First Nations on Canada’s West Coast


This is the thirty-eighth issue of The Beat, a free, independent newsletter that brings you up-to-date on the art, artists and events of the First Nations on Canada’s Pacific Coast.


We respectfully acknowledge the Coast Salish Peoples, on whose traditional territories we live and work, and all the First Nations of the Pacific coast.

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Through the Eye of the Raven 2010

Through the Eye of the Raven is a mural on the west wall of the Orwell Hotel at 456 East Hastings Street in Vancouver. The huge painting is by Richard Tetrault and a team of other First Nations artists: Jerry Whitehead, Richard Shorty, Sharifah Marsden and Haisla Collins. The mural shows Raven on the right, whose eye beams light and encouragement to the people below, and historic and legendary scenes of First Nations life. For a panoramic view of the painting, and a close-up of details, see http://www.urbanaboriginal.org/images/360/MuralShot360.html



Signed Without Signature: Works by Charles and Isabella Edenshaw at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver has been extraordinarily popular: attendance in November, when the show opened, increased by 30%. MOA’s attendance this year has increased by an impressive 17%.

The spirit of the opening ceremony in November is captured in some video clips on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfCurue234

The exhibition will run to September 30 2011.

See http://www.moa.ubc.ca/exhibits/


The 2011 Talking Stick Festival by Full Circle Performance returns to Vancouver Tuesday February 1, celebrating its 10th year here.


Shyama-Priya Fancy Dancer

Photo: Christine Germano


The Gala Opening is at The Roundhouse February 1 at 7 pm, hosted by Squamish nation hereditary chief Ian Campbell. The Git Hayetsk dancers and others will be performing dance, song and instrumental music.The full schedule of events is at: http://www.fullcircleperformance.ca/


The Lattimer Gallery in Vancouver raised $10,850 for the Aboriginal Health Program at BC Women’s Hospital with its Bentwood Boxes for Charity in December.



The YVR Art Foundation sponsors an annual scholarship program for young First Nations artists who want pursue training and skill development in traditional Northwest Coast visual arts. Each scholarship recipient works in areas such as wood carving, weaving, jewelry design, and printmaking with an elder, a mentor, or in a formal learning environment. At the end of the student’s studies, their completed work is displayed at the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) for one year. The Foundation invites applicants who are interested to go to its website http://www.yvraf.com/application.html

The deadline for applications is January 31 2011.


Gerald McMaster, Curator of Canadian Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario has been appointed Co- Artistic Director of the Sydney Biennale of art for 2012 in Australia. McMaster was formerly the Director’s Special Assistant for Mall Exhibitions at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. His colleague in the Biennale position is Catherine de Zegher, a writer and curator in New York, and until recently Director of Exhibitions and Publications at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Several First nations artists based in Vancouver were chosen to participate in the 2010 Sydney Biennale. (See The Beat May 2010.)


Aaron Glass will present his film In Search of the Hamat’sa at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York on Wednesday February 2 2011. On March 20 and 21 2011, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester New York, Glass will give a lecture to accompany a public presentation of Edward Curtis’s 1914 silent film shot on the BC coast, In the Land of the Head Hunters. (See The Beat March 2008.)


Mask, attrib. to Simeon Stilthda (c. 1799-1889), Haida

Photo: Denis Finnin, courtesy of American Museum of Natural History


Also in New York City at the Focus Gallery at the Bard Graduate Center, 18 West 86th Street, an exhibition curated by Aaron Glass and his students at the Bard Center will be held from January 26 to April 17 2011 (see object above). “Objects of Exchange uses the material culture of the period as visual evidence of historical change and shifting intercultural relations. Drawing on a wide variety of objects from the remarkable collection of the American Museum of Natural History-ranging from decorated clothing and containers, to ceremonial masks and trade goods-this exhibit reveals the artistic traces of dynamic Indigenous activity whereby objects were altered, repurposed, and adapted to meet the challenges of the time.” For more information, see http://www.bgc.bard.edu/gallery/gallery-at-bgc/focus-gallery.html


The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler British Columbia is the site of a new carving project by Squamish carver Ray Natraoro in the foyer of the centre. The public is invited to observe and discuss the work with the artist.

An exhibition by annie ross, Forest Person is at the centre, where the artist enhances and transforms everyday objects with weaving and embroidery.

A review of the show is at http://www.piquenewsmagazine.com/pique/index.php?content=Annie+ross+1751

A drum-making workshop will be held at the centre on Sunday January 30 at 1 pm; advance registration is required. A story-telling program is held every Sunday in January at 11 am, 2 and 4 pm, for all ages. For more about the Centre, see http://www.slcc.ca



Damara Jacobs, co-curator of Entwined Histories

Behind are portraits of her ancestors drawn by Maisie Hurley


The North Vancouver Museum & Archives opens an exhibition to honour an outstanding advocate of aboriginal rights, Maisie Hurley (1887-1964). Maisie Hurley was the founder of Canada’s first aboriginal newspaper the Native Voice. Her husband Tom Hurley was a criminal attorney who worked towards justice for First Nations people. The Hurleys were an inspiration to Thomas Berger QC who spoke about their influence in North Vancouver in December. The show is presented jointly with the Squamish nation, and is called Entwined Histories: Gifts from the Maisie Hurley Collection, Txwnch7ám'new'as kwis eslhílhkw’iws. It will be at the museum from January 25, 2011 to November 6, 2011. Work by Maisie Hurley, photographs and First Nations objects that she owned are in the tribute exhibition. For more information, see http://www.northvanmuseum.ca

A quintet by Timothy Corlis, Raven and the First Men, inspired by Bill Reid’s sculpture of that legend, debuted in Ontario in 2010. It was performed by James Campbell, clarinetist, and the New Zealand String Quartet on November 25.

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Comments, news and new subscribers to this free newsletter are welcomed. Please write to: editor@coastalartbeat.ca Past issues are available at our website http://www.coastalartbeat.ca


Thank you to David Dumaresq, Adair Hope, Aaron Glass and Jennifer Webb, and many others, for your assistance. The Beat is an independent, not-for-profit project written and published in Vancouver Canada by Ann Cameron.

Copyright 2011 Ann Cameron.