Mouse Woman drawing by Luke J. Parnell
The Beat
A monthly newsletter about the art of
First Nations on Canada’s West Coast
Welcome to the fourteenth issue of The Beat, a free, independent newsletter that brings you up-to-date on the art 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. Congratulations to the Snuneymuxw First Nation on the return of their salmon petroglyph from the City of Nanaimo museum.
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The House of the Ghosts (see The Beat October 2008), is a spectacular artwork by Marianne Nicolson visible only at night. The Vancouver Art Gallery’s Georgia Street façade is brilliantly transformed into a traditional Kwakwaka’wakw ceremonial house by means of high-powered theatrical lighting, reminding us that the building was once a courthouse where First Nations leaders were humiliated and imprisoned for performing their ancient ceremonies. The figure of Sisiutl at the top of the light creation surmounts symmetrically placed side figures, with a striking ghost puppet in the centre. The effect is powerful, colourful and especially beautiful in the dark, wet nights of approaching winter. The installation continues until January 11 2009; you will regret missing it. The Gallery’s statement: “Nicolson sees this work as a positive and symbolic reassertion of a culture in a place where it was once forbidden, in a gesture that speaks to the vibrancy of Kwakwaka’wakw culture and the need to sustain it.”
See more at www.vanartgallery.bc.ca under “Exhibitions”.
Dr. George MacDonald, the former CEO of Canada’s Museum of Civilization, is giving a series of lectures at Vancouver’s Bill Reid Centre for Northwest Coast Art . On Wednesday November 5 th , 12 th and 19 th , at 639 Hornby Street in Vancouver, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, Dr. MacDonald will speak about the villages and distinctive cultures of the Haida nation. The talks are a rare opportunity to hear one of the world’s foremost experts speak about a culture and art admired and honoured internationally. Seating is limited. To reserve your place, telephone 604 682 3455.
Call the same number for information and registration in a drawing workshop with Tlingit artist Richard Shorty to be held at the Gallery on Saturday November 15 at 1 to 4 pm. The Bill Reid Gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm. More at www.billreidgallery.ca
New galleries were opened in September at the Chilliwack Museum . Featured is the gallery called The T’xwelatse Story , telling the story of the ancient ancestor figure repatriated in 2008 from a Seattle museum to its own people (see The Beat March 2008 ). The Chilliwack Museum is at 45820 Spadina Avenue in Chilliwack, 100 km. east of Vancouver. See http://www.chilliwack.museum.bc.ca/
Shaq'asthut - Gathering Place in Vancouver
Canada’s Aboriginal Curatorial Collective is meeting in Vancouver from Thursday, November 6 to November 8 2008. Issues relating to tradition, the art market, and curatorial practices will be discussed by invited panelists and guests from Canada and the United States. Registration is still open. See www.aboriginalcuratorialcollective.org
The meeting will coincide with the opening of an exhibition of First Nations artists at Vancouver’s Roundhouse Community Centre at 181 Roundhouse Mews at the corner of Davie and Drake. The show will run from November 4 to 19 2008. It features work of artists Marianne Nicholson, Larry McNeil, Peter Morin, Maria Hupfield, Nicholas Galanin, Kamala Todd, and from the Native Youth Artist Collective mentors Jonathan Matas and Enpaauk Andrew Dexel . The opening celebration is at 7 pm at the Roundhouse on Thursday, November 6.
Winnipeg’s Urban Shaman
Work by a prominent First Nations political and cultural activist who found his voice as a visual and performance artist here in Vancouver will be shown at Winnipeg’s Urban Shaman Art Gallery. James Nicholas was born in Nelson House to a Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation family; he came to Vancouver in the early 1990’s and began work as an actor, writer and photographer, sometimes in collaboration with his wife Carol Semchuk. He died in October 2007 while visiting a friend at a fishing camp on the Fraser River near Lillooet, British Columbia. His work titled eegostaman dha wheyteegoeean, Afraid of What I Could Become , is a multi-media installation and will be at the Urban Shaman Gallery in Winnipeg from November 7 to December 19 2008.
Auctions
Appleton Galleries is holding an auction of Northwest Coast and Inuit First Nations Art on Sunday, November 30 2008 at 1 pm at Vandusen Botanical Gardens at 5251 Oak Street in Vancouver.
Seahawk Auctions held a sale on October 26 2008 in Burnaby near Vancouver. Prices were generally somewhat lower than estimates, no surprise given the economic crisis. The finest works in good condition held their value generally. A finely carved Tlingit amulet sold for $500, over the estimate of $300. An Ellen Neel Thunderbird pole about 12” high, estimated at $500, sold for $700. There was an interest in traditionally-dressed dolls, which offer a record of historical costume.
Pacific Editions Fine Art Auction in Victoria British Columbia is on Friday, November 7 2008, at 3 pm. It is an opportunity for artists and collectors to view and purchase a wide selection of silkscreen prints made by First Nations artists, largely from the west coast. Most are hand-printed limited editions. An untitled Thunderbird by Robert Davidson , printed by the artist according to the catalogue, is estimated at $600. Other artists are represented are Richard Hunt , Tim Paul , Susan Point and William Wasden Jr . Some works are from the early 1980’s. The auction will be held at 942 Fort Street in downtown Victoria, British Columbia. For more information, call Pacific Editions, toll-free at 1 877 388 5234, in Victoria at 250 388 5233, or look at http://www.pacificeditions.ca
Seattle Celebrates Coast Salish Art
S’abadeb – The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists
A major exhibition celebrating the art and culture of the Coast Salish peoples has opened at the Seattle Art Museum and is on view now until January 11 2009. The theme of reciprocal gift giving, in daily and ceremonial life, is reflected in the structure of the exhibition. Ancient, historical and contemporary objects are displayed within the cultural context of the people who created them. Wood carvings, glass sculptures, photographs, antler, wool and basket weaving: all express the rich culture of the coastal peoples. The Salish tribes lived in the area from south Washington State through the Strait of Georgia north along eastern Vancouver Island and the mainland coast. Many contemporary Salish artists from Canada are included: Stan Greene, Susan Point, Luke and John Marston, Rena Point Bolton, Aaron Nelson-Moody and Lawrence Paul Yuxwelupton. Seven empty pedestals represent missing objects or ones too sacred to display.
The show was curated by Dr. Barbara Brotherton; it was organized with extensive consultation and collaboration with the many groups within the Coast Salish peoples, represented by an active committee of forty First Nations people.
The Seattle Art Museum is presenting a full program of events, including tours, lectures, music and literature. Curator Barbara Brotherton speaks on Friday November 7 at 11 am. Sto: lo artist Stan Green will speak on Friday December 5 2008. For more on the exhibition and programs, see www.seattleartmuseum.org
The Stonington Gallery at 119 S. Jackson Street in Seattle has work by Coast Salish artists in their exhibition This Coast Salish Place , until November 29 2008. Nuu-chal-nulth artist Joe David’s beautiful Spirit Water Figure sold at $10,000. More information at
The Duwamish First People , the original inhabitants of Seattle, will open a Longhouse and Cultural Centre on West Marginal Way South in West Seattle on November 22 2008. The 6000 sq. ft. building has offices, a gallery and exhibit space, gift shop, and large kitchen. The cooking facility is a $60,000 gift of a Sioux community in Minnesota. The longhouse will be new heart of the Duwamish people, the site for ceremonies and meetings.
The Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, Washington, is sponsoring a free film series on social justice. On November 13 at 6 pm, Way of the Warrior by filmmaker and associate professor, Patty Loew examines what motivated Native Americans to fight in World War I for a country in which they were not allowed to vote. In the United States, First Peoples were granted US citizenship and the right to vote in 1924, as recognition of the aboriginal community’s service to the country in the armed forces. In Canada, citizenship and provincial voting rights were not granted to First Nations until 1956, and federal voting rights in 1960. Previously, unless they currently were in the Armed Forces or gave up their right to live on a reserve, they could not vote. The Washington State History Museum is in Tacoma at 1911 Pacific Avenue. More information is at www.wshs.org
And Even Further South…
There are changes planned for the Northwest coast First Nations collection at the Portland Art Museum. The Portland Art Museum has an impressive collection of Northwest First Nations work displayed in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Centre for Native American Art. Many outstanding pieces are from the collection of an Alaskan teacher Axel Rasmussen. He collected in the 1920-30’s, and his 800-object collection was purchased by the Museum after his death in 1945, when money was raised through a public subscription campaign. The other major component of the holdings is the Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection of more than 2100 objects and includes work from nearly every tribal culture of North America, with the majority of objects created between 1800 and 1960. As well as owning older works like a silver bracelet by Charles Edenshaw, the museum has acquired works from contemporary Canadian First Nations artists, such as a complete dance costume by Kwakwa’kakw Calvin Hunt. The PAM’s Curator of Native American art Anna Strankman is embarking on a project to change the design of the galleries, improve the labelling of displays and review the conservation of the works. All work will be carried out in consultation with the First Nations represented. More about the Portland Art Museum at www.pam.org
The Quintana Gallery at 120 NW 9 th Avenue in Portland’s charming Pearl District has a fine selection of work by First Nations artists, many from the Northwest but also some Southwest and Inuit work, as well as a smaller “Historic” section. There is an argillite carving Spawning Salmon by Haida Lionel Samuels at $7000, and a fine Grizzly Bear Panel by Kwakwaka’wakw Sean Whonnock for $7500. There is also a “Sale” section on the website. See www.quintanagalleries.com
Further south down the I-5 highway is the capital of Oregon, Salem, where the first exhibition of ceremonial regalia of the First Peoples of Oregon is at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, until January 18 2009. The exhibition, The Art of Ceremony: Regalia of Native Oregon , is a groundbreaking model of creative collaboration between native communities and museum professionals. The exhibition will travel to the Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton Oregon February 20 to May 28 2009, and Warm Springs Museum June 26 to September 12 2009, so it can be seen in home communities. Sensitively installed and informatively presented, the show includes both the old and new, in the context of families and their stories. Congratulations to Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribal communities and the exhibit’s curator Rebecca J. Dobkins who partnered in this undertaking.
www.willamette.edu/museum_of_art
More on Edward Curtis
November is the National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month in the United States. In Washington D.C. at the Museum of the American Indian , a series called Classical Native: American Indian Composers and Musicians will be held November 4 to 11 in the museum’s Rasmuson Theater. An event on Sunday November 9 2008 is part of that and also of a simultaneous film festival. In the Land of the Headhunters is a silent film made in 1914 by photographer Edward Curtis among the Kwakwaka’wakw of Alert Bay, British Columbia. The restored film will be shown with its re-discovered score performed by The Coast Orchestra , an “all-Native ensemble”. To see more about the Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian celebration in November, see www.si.edu
Opportunities for Artists
Valerie Birdgeneau, Project Implementation Coordinator for Aboriginal Tourism BC, writes that a button blanket design competition is open until November 5 2008, to artists who work in that medium. More information on that and other Aboriginal Tourism BC projects at
The City of Richmond near Vancouver has called for “expressions of Interest” in the City’s Public Art Roster, with a deadline of December 5 2008. See www.richmond.ca under the Culture and Heritage Dept.
The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games Public Art Program has a competition, with deadline for artists to provide “expressions of interest” by November 17 2008. They are looking to create a “signature” artwork in Vancouver at the west end of Georgia Street at the entrance to Stanley Park. The budget is $750,000. For more information, see
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/oca/publicart/pdf/georgia2010.pdf
The First Peoples' Heritage, Language and Culture Council and the British Columbia Arts Council announce the December 1 2008 deadline for proposals for their Aboriginal Arts Award grants, with categories for both individual artists and community groups. For more, see:
Technology & Communications
The March 2008 issue of The Beat reported that an important lecture by Curator Robin K. Wright , Hiding in Plain Sight , was being given at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle on March 4 2008. The lecture discusses the work of an anonymous 19 th -century artist known until now as the Master of the Chicago Settee and identifies him as a Haida named Zacharias. But there is good news! This fine talk, with images, is available as a podcast on iTunes (keywords Wright Washington). You can download it and view it on your computer. If you can’t find a teenager to explain this manoeuvre to you, write to the editor of The Beat. The talk is a wonderful discussion of a great master artist and a good way to learn to really look deeply into a beautiful work of art.
For readers curious about the ancient cultures and archaeology of the Pacific coast, we suggest looking at the UBCWiki on Northwest Coast Archaeology. Compiled and edited by the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, it contains informative articles on subjects such as “Marpole Phase”, “Earliest Routes” and “Cultural Identity”, and gives references for further reading.
http://wiki.elearning.ubc.ca/NWCoastArchaeology
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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 www.coastalartbeat.ca
Thank you to David Dumaresq, Anna Strankman, Cecily Quintana, Martin Landmann, and many others, for your assistance. Thank you to readers who have lent us images. We have decided to put a “slide show” of photographs on our website during the coming month with images related to our stories. If you are searching for stories in past issues, try using Google.
The Beat is an independent, not-for-profit project written and published in Vancouver Canada by Ann Cameron.
Copyright 2008 Ann Cameron.