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Inuit Prints: Japanese Inspiration
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- James Houston, Un’ichi Hiratsuka and the Inuit Print Tradition
- 19 June - 25 September, 2011 (The Audain Gallery)
- This exhibition features exquisite and extraordinarily rare prints from Japan and Cape Dorset, Nunavut, from the late 1950s and early 1960s. It also tells the little-known story of how, fifty years ago, the Canadian artist and “discoverer” of Inuit art, James Houston, travelled to Japan to study printmaking with Un’ichi Hiratsuka. An esteemed Japanese printmaker, teacher and champion of Japan’s “Creative Print” Movement (sōsaku hanga), Hiratsuka taught Houston a variety of direct transfer print techniques. With Japanese prints and tools in hand, Houston returned to the Canadian Arctic and resumed work alongside the five original Inuit printmakers — Osuitok Ipeelee, Iyola Kingwatsiak, Lukta Qiatsuk, Kananginak Pootoogook and Eegyvudluk Pootoogook. Their studio produced its first annual collection and released it to the public in January 1960. Since then, art collectors around the world have been continually surprised by Cape Dorset’s fresh, imaginative and original artworks on paper. It is an incomparable artistic legacy in Canada. Inuit Prints: James Houston, Un’ichi Hiratsuka and the Inuit Print Tradition is the first systematic inquiry into the Japanese influences on the early years of the Cape Dorset print studio. By juxtaposing the earliest Cape Dorset prints with the actual Japanese prints that inspired the Inuit printmakers in 1959, the exhibition examines the many ways in which the Cape Dorset artists creatively “localized” Japanese influences. This exhibition tells a much different story than is commonly associated with Inuit art, which is a romantic story about faraway people living in an enclaved, remote world. The complex connectivity that unites Japanese and Inuit printmakers through the intermediary work of James Houston is a story about globalization, cultural translation, travel and modernity — characteristics that define our present age. Exhibition organized by the Canadian Museum of Civilization with the assistance of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative in Cape Dorset.
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Visions of Enlightenment: Buddhist Art at MOA
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- May 10 - September 30, 2012 (The O'Brian Gallery)
- As Buddhism spread across Asia, symbols and sacred images developed to represent the Buddha and illuminate his teachings. These images offer the devotee and viewer both consistency in the forms of Buddhist art, and a vast array of subtle and obvious differences. The latter illuminate the variety of rituals, religious texts, and beliefs generated over time, culture, and geography. They offer a window into Buddhist philosophy, aesthetics and values, combining beauty and meaning. Works of art in the exhibition focus on basic Buddhist concepts and images, and reflect the purpose of Buddhist art: why it is made, who made it, for whom, and how it is used; for example, in teaching, facilitating meditation, gaining merit, and for devotional purposes. Exhibit content reflects the Three Treasures of Buddhism, that is the Buddha, the Dharma (Teaching), and the Sangha (Community). Also described is the role of the bodhisattva and expressions of Buddhist practice, such as obtaining merit and devotion. The exhibit will decode the meaning of representations in Buddhist art, such as hand gestures and the attributes associated with various images. The objects on display illustrate the primary images found in Buddhist art, and offer viewers a varied visual experience, from an early 5th century Gandharan sculpture, to a Zen painting. A range of media will be represented, including sculptures (made of stone, metal or lacquered wood) paintings, ceramics, manuscripts, and textiles. These will be drawn from MOA's Asian collection, as well as from private lenders in British Columbia and from the collection of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Visions of Enlightenment will show examples of Buddhist art from the main Buddhist traditions: the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. In Vancouver, the latter traditions are well represented in the established Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Tibetan communities. The Theravada school represents the traditions of the Burmese, Thai and other Southeast Asian communities. The exhibition is guest curated by Paula Swart, who has been associated with the Museum of Anthropology as Adjunct Curator (Asia) since 2009. She teaches in the University of Victoria Continuing Studies Department, and has lectured on National Geographic Society expeditions to Asia. Additional curatorial advice is provided by Margo Palmer, current Director of the Canadian Society for Asian Arts. The Society promotes the arts and cultures of Asia through lectures, cultural events, exhibits, and educational programs. MOA Liaison curator is Dr. Carol E. Mayer, Curator Africa/Oceania. MOA Designer is Skooker Broome. Visions of Enlightenment is organized by MOA, and supported in part by the Canadian Society of Asian Arts, Bank of Montreal, and Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation. Media Sponsor is the Georgia Straight.
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Luminescence: the Silver of Peru
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- October 4 - December 16, 2012 (The Audain Gallery)
- Bursts of bright light danced across the royal courts, ceremonies, processions and battlefields of pre-Columbian Peru. Reflected by the gold and silver of crowns, jewelry, regalia, costumes and banners, such luminosity proclaimed the divine power and authority of Andean priests and rulers for nearly 2,500 years. Despite the 16th century Spanish Conquest, the importance of the reflective properties, and divine qualities traditionally associated with gold and silver, were not forgotten. New techniques were developed to satisfy the novel demands of the Catholic Church and colonial elite. Later, Peruvian Independence inaugurated a revival of the indigenous use of silver, and the introduction of a new style of silverware celebrating the country’s distinct flora and fauna. Luminescence: the Silver of Peru traces the long history of silverwork and the fascination with the metal’s divine and luminescent qualities. It will display pre-Columbian works to those made by contemporary artists, including national treasures seldom seen outside of Peru. The exhibition is curated by MOA Director Dr. Anthony Shelton, and made possible through the generous support of the Pan American Silver Corp. and the Patronato Plata del Peru.
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Paradise Lost? Contemporary Works from the Pacific
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- July 24 - September 29, 2013
- July 24 – August 31, 2013 (Satellite Gallery)
- The Pacific Islands occupy a place in the Western imagination as a paradise filled with idyllic beaches and lush, tropical landscapes inhabited by dusky maidens. With historical precedents in the accounts of European explorers, these perceptions were later re-invented and popularized by Hollywood films in the 1920s through the ’50s. Contemporary artists from the Pacific Islands frequently play with and invert such perceptions, and their work provides an alternate, more complex vision of the region. Paradise Lost?: Contemporary Works from the Pacific features works by artists from Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. Working in video, installation, sculpture, painting, and photography, the artists show the Pacific Islands from an insider’s perspective. Their artworks explore environmental concerns, cultural heritage issues, questions relating to the experience of migration and diaspora, and the intersection of Indigenous belief systems and Western religions. The artists featured are George Nuku, Te Rongo Kirkwood, Greg Semu, Pax Jakupa Jr., Michael Timbin, Tom Deko, Cathy Kata, Shigeyuki Kihara, Ralph Regenvanu, Rosanna Raymond, Moses Jobo, Eric Natuoivi, and David Ambong. Curated by Dr. Carol Mayer (Curator, Africa/Pacific), and organized to coincide with the Pacific Arts Association Symposium at MOA, the exhibition will feature works displayed throughout MOA’s public spaces and at our downtown Satellite Gallery.
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Claiming Space: Voices of Urban Aboriginal Youth
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- June 1, 2014 - January 4, 2015 (O'Brian Gallery)
- Claiming Space: Voices of Urban Aboriginal Youth looks at the diverse ways urban Aboriginal youth are asserting their identity and affirming their relationship to both urban spaces and ancestral territories. Unfiltered and unapologetic, over 20 young artists from across Canada, the US, and around the world define what it really means to be an urban Aboriginal youth today. In doing so they challenge centuries of stereotyping and assimilation policies. This exhibit will leave visitors with the understanding that today's urban Aboriginal youth are not only acutely aware of the ongoing impacts of colonization, but are also creatively engaging with decolonizing movements through new media, film, fashion, photography, painting, performance, creative writing and traditional art forms. Artists in the exhibition include Alison Bremner (Tlingit), Deanna Bittern (Ojibwe), Jamie Blankenship-Attig (Nlaka’pamux, Secwepemc, Nez Perce, Muskoday Cree), Kelli Clifton (Tsimshian), Jeneen Frei Njootli (Vuntut Gwitchin), Ippiksaut Friesen (Inuit), Clifton Guthrie (Tsimshian), Cody Lecoy (Okanagan/Esquimalt), Arizona Leger (Fijian, Samoan, Tongan, Maori), Danielle Morsette (Stó:lō /Suquamish), Ellena Neel (Kwakwaka'wakw/Ahousaht), Zach Soakai (Tongan, Samoan), Diamond Point (Musqueam), Crystal Smith de Molina (Git’ga’at), Nola Naera (Maori), Kelsey Sparrow (Musqueam/Anishinabe), Cole Speck (Kwakwaka'wakw), Rose Stiffarm ((Siksika Blackfoot, Chippewa Cree, Tsartlip Saanich, Cowichan, A'aninin, Nakoda, French, & Scottish), Taleetha Tait (Wet’suwet’en), Marja Bål Nango (Sámi, Norway), Harry Brown (Kwakwaka'wakw), Anna McKenzie (Opaskwayak Cree, Manitoba), Sarah Yankoo (Austrian, Scottish, Algonquin, Irish and Romanian), Raymond Caplin (Mi’gmac), Emilio Wawatie (Anishanabe) and the Northern Collection (Toombz/Shane Kelsey [Mohawk], and the Curse/Cory Golder [Mi’maq]). Also included are works from the Urban Native Youth Association, Musqueam youth and the Native Youth Program.
- CURATOR: Pam Brown (Heiltsuk Nation), Pacific Northwest, and Curatorial Assistant Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot, Blood Reserve/Sami, northern Norway).
- The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Vancouver Foundation.
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In a Different Light: Reflecting on Northwest Coast Art
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- June 22, 2017 - Spring 2019
- CURATORS: Karen Duffek, Jordan Wilson, Bill McLennan
- Despite sitting still in a glass case before you, some artworks never stop moving. They contain histories. They challenge us. They are more than art. In a Different Light presents more than 110 historical Indigenous artworks and marks the return of many important works to British Columbia. These objects are amazing artistic achievements. Yet they also transcend the idea of ‘art’ or ‘artifact’. Through the voices of contemporary First Nations artists and community members, this exhibition reflects on the roles historical artworks have today. Featuring immersive storytelling and innovative design, it explores what we can learn from these works and how they relate to Indigenous peoples’ relationships to their lands. With the increasing impacts of colonization in the 19th century, many Northwest Coast objects were removed from their communities. As they circulated through museums and private collections, their histories were often lost. Indigenous community members are now reconnecting with these objects and rebuilding their past. Through their eyes, you will come to see these artworks in a different light — as teachers, belongings, even legal documents. Ultimately, this inaugural exhibition of the Gallery of Northwest Coast Masterworks highlights the creativity and inventiveness of Northwest Coast artists and how they understood the world they lived in. And critically, it shows us the immense body of knowledge that endures today.
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Amazonia: The Rights of Nature
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- March 10, 2017 - January 28, 2018
- CURATOR: Nuno Porto
- MOA will showcase its Amazonian collections in a significant exploration of socially and environmentally-conscious notions intrinsic to indigenous South American cultures, which have recently become innovations in International Law. These are foundational to the notions of Rights of Nature, and they have been consolidating in the nine countries that share responsibilities over the Amazonian basin. These depart from a social philosophy, known in Spanish as “buen vivir”, in which the concept of a good life proposes a holistic approach to development that intertwines notions of unity, equality, dignity, reciprocity, social and gender equality – a rallying cry to move beyond Western ideals and practices of development and progress largely measured by profit. Curated by Dr. Nuno Porto (MOA Curator, Africa and Latin America), Amazonia: The Rights of Nature will feature Amazonian works of basketry, textiles, carvings, feather works and ceramics both of everyday and of ceremonial use, representing Indigenous, Maroon and white settler communities that today articulate against the threats caused by political violence, mining, oil and gas exploration, industrial agriculture, forest fires, road building and hydroelectric plants. Challenging visitors to examine their own notions towards holistic wellbeing, the exhibition will cover more than 100 years of unsuspected relationships between Vancouver and Amazonian peoples, ideas and their struggles.
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Seeing is Believing: Photographs from the Archives
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- 2007
- There are more than 90,000 historic photographs in the Archives at the Museum of Anthropology. The collection is worldwide, covers a multitude of subjects, and dates from the early 1900s to the present day. This exhibit reveals only a tiny portion of this hidden gem, yet hints at the remarkable potential of this collection for scholars, researchers, and visitors. Geographically, the collection includes images from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia, the Southwest United States, South America, and various areas of Asia, Oceania and Africa. Institutionally, the collection documents the people and events that were instrumental in the history and growth of the Museum.
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Playing With Fire: Ceramics of the Extraordinary
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- November 22, 2019 – March 29, 2020
- Curator: Carol E. Mayer
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Culture at the Centre: Honouring Indigenous Culture, History and Language
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- March 18 – November 4, 2018
- CURATORS: Jill Baird and Pam Brown, with representatives from Musqueam Cultural Education Centre, Squamish-Lil’wat Cultural Centre , Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre, Nisg̱a’a Museum and Haida Gwaii Museum and Haida Heritage Centre at Kay Llnagaay.
- The Culture at the Centre exhibition offers insight into the important work Indigenous-run cultural centres and museums in British Columbia are doing to honour and support their culture, history and language. Five centres are showcased, representing six communities: Musqueam Cultural Education Centre (Musqueam), Squamish-Lil’wat Cultural Centre (Squamish, Lil’wat), Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre (Heiltsuk), Nisg̱ a’a Museum (Nisg̱ a’a) and Haida Gwaii Museum and Haida Heritage Centre at Kay Llnagaay (Haida). Covering a wide geographic expanse, from what is now Vancouver to the Nass River valley, this is the first time that these communities have come together to collaborate on an exhibition and showcase their diverse cultures in one space. For visitors, it is an amazing opportunity to learn about the heritage work these centres are doing and to see traditional and contemporary objects from the communities. The exhibit is organized under three main themes: land and language, continuity and communities, and repatriation and reconciliation. Many British Columbians aren’t aware of the existence of First Nations cultural centres and museums or their impact on their communities. This exhibition opens a window into these five centres through dynamic displays of animated maps, Indigenous languages and rarely-seen items, like an ancient walrus skull and a 32-foot sturgeon harpoon. MOA hopes this is the first of many exhibitions of its kind.
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Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia
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- November 1, 2018 – March 31, 2019
- CURATORS: Carol Mayer curated MOA’s installation of this exhibit. The exhibit originated at the Nevada Museum of Art and was organized by William Fox, Director of the Centre for Art and Environment, and scholar Henry Skerritt. The exhibition was drawn form the collection of Debra and Dennis Scholl.
- Aboriginal women have been redrawing the boundaries of the contemporary Aboriginal art scene in Australia since the late 1980s, redefining a movement that continues today. Their work resonates with vitality and relevance, their Indigenous ways of knowing the world captured in each brush stroke and woven thread. The strength of their vision is immediately evident in the works, asserting their authority like lightning bolts in the night sky. From the vast to the minute, the subjects of the works range from distant celestial bodies to the tiny flowers of the native bush plum. They also encompass the day-to-day acts of their lives, from venerable craft traditions to women’s ceremonies. And though the subjects are drawn from the visible and natural world, they are not bound by it. The works invoke the infinite, challenging the very constraints and constructs of time and space. Marking the Infinite features the work of nine Aboriginal women—Nonggirrnga Marawili, Wintjiya Napaltjarri, Yukultji Napangati, Angelina Pwerle, Carlene West, Regina Pilawuk Wilson, Lena Yarinkura, Gulumbu Yunupingu and Nyapanyapa Yunupingu—each from different remote regions of Australia. They are revered matriarchs and celebrated artists who are represented in the collections of the Australian National Gallery. Most of them make their Canadian debut at MOA with this breathtaking exhibition. The artists bring their ancient cultural knowledge into their contemporary artistic practice, and continue to create art to ensure their languages, land and knowledge survive in an increasingly digital world. Their works are steeped in the traditions of their communities and yet speak to the universal themes of our shared existence, revealing the continued relevance of Indigenous knowledge in understanding our time and place in this world.
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Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia
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- May 11 – October 9, 2017
- CURATOR: Fuyubi Nakamura
- Words and their physical manifestations are explored in this insightful exhibition, which will honour the special significance that written forms, especially calligraphy, hold across the many unique cultures of Asia – a vast geographical area boasting the greatest diversity of languages in the world. Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia will showcase the varied forms of expression associated with writing throughout Asia over the span of different time periods: from Sumerian cuneiform inscriptions, Qu’ranic manuscripts, Southeast Asian palm leaf manuscripts and Chinese calligraphy from MOA’s Asian collection to graffiti art from Afghanistan and contemporary artworks using Japanese calligraphy, and Tibetan and Thai scripts. Curated by Fuyubi Nakamura (MOA Curator, Asia), the multimedia exhibition will meditate on the physical traces of words — both spoken and recorded — unique to humans. Embodying both the ephemeral and eternal elements innate to the human experience, the cultural significance of words and their artistic representation through calligraphy, painting, digital works and mixed media are examined. Traces of Words will feature works from six international artists — Shamsia Hassani, Kimura Tsubasa, Nortse, Phaptawan Suwannakudt, Yugami Hisao and teamLab.
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Joe David: West Coast Artist
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Exhibit A: Objects of Intrigue
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- March 9, 1999 - March 31, 2000
- Created to celebrate the Museum’s 50th Anniversary, this exhibit features works selected by the commented upon by more than sixty people who have been associated with the Museum over its history. Through their choices, artists, curators, current and former staff, writers, researchers, and others give special insight into objects both remarkable and rare.
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Shake Up: Preserving What We Value
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- December 2, 2018 – Fall 2019
- CURATORS: Jill Baird and Jennifer Kramer
- Earthquakes have long been a part of the reality of living along the Northwest Coast. At MOA, preparation for this reality is a priority of monumental proportions as the Museum’s iconic Great Hall undergoes major seismic upgrades to help preserve the building, the collections and cultural heritage. In conjunction with this immense undertaking, MOA’s exhibition, Shake Up: Preserving What We Value, explores the convergence of earthquake science and technology with the rich Indigenous knowledge and oral history of the living cultures represented in MOA’s Northwest Coast collection. Beyond scientific discoveries, Shake Up also puts into the foreground traditional knowledge of earthquakes and natural disasters that has been passed down through generations throughout many cultures. Through multimedia installations, contemporary First Nations art and cultural objects, Shake Up explores the connection between cultural knowledge and natural seismic events. Bringing together the perspectives of cultures, arts and sciences, this exhibition reflects on what we value and how we preserve it. The exhibition will be displayed in areas throughout the Museum, and visitors will have the opportunity to see the majestic poles of the Great Hall undergo important conservation work while they are temporarily stored in the adjacent O’Brian Gallery. Shake Up: Preserving What We Value is the first of two exhibitions at MOA to explore the theme of natural disasters and their implications. A Future for Memory: In the Aftermath of the 3/11 Disaster, curated by MOA’s Curator of Asia, Fuyubi Nakamura, is slated to open in early 2020. Based on research from the past seven years, its focus will be on changing physical and psychological landscapes in the aftermath of 2011 earthquake in Japan, and consider its local and global resonances.
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Cindy Sherman meets Dzunuk'wa: From the Michael O'Brian Collection
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- February 14 - March 29, 2014 (Satellite Gallery, 560 Seymour Street)
- The private collection of Vancouver-based arts patrons Michael and Inna O'Brian is the focus of this first collaborative exhibition by the four partner institutions at Satellite Gallery. Cindy Sherman meets Dzunuk'wa is a rare opportunity for the public to see selected highlights from the collection, including works by such key Canadian and international artists as Brian Jungen, Ann Kipling, Mary Pratt, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Victor Vasarely, and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. Formed over a period of 25 years, the O'Brian collection is both eclectic and unpredictable in its breadth and range of media, from paintings and sculptures to ceremonial regalia and conceptual photography. It emphasizes regional art from the postwar era to the present day, revealing the collectors’ special interest in local and emerging artists, many of whom have become personal friends. "My passion for the visual arts is not just about owning and collecting art," says Michael O'Brian; "The work must create within me a desire to feel and understand what was in the artist's mind at the time of its creation." Taking an experimental approach to the exhibition, the curators—Karen Duffek (Museum of Anthropology, UBC), Helga Pakasaar (Presentation House Gallery), Cate Rimmer (Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr University), and Keith Wallace (Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery, UBC)—have avoided chronological and thematic categories by placing the diverse works into unexpected juxtapositions. Just as New York artist Cindy Sherman’s untitled portrait of vanity and the grotesque comes face to face with Kwakwaka’wakw artist Beau Dick’s mask of Dzunuk’wa, the Giant of the Woods, artworks in the exhibition are presented as a series of conversations, from intimate to confrontational. “We have each brought different perspectives into the process of assembling the exhibit,” says Duffek, “and want to honour the vision of the Michael O’Brian Family Foundation, which founded Satellite Gallery as a space for new and temporary projects, collaborations, and experiments in the arts.”
- CURATOR: Karen Duffek (Museum of Anthropology, UBC), Helga Pakasaar (Presentation House Gallery), Cate Rimmer (Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr University), and Keith Wallace (Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery, UBC)
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Lyle Wilson: When Worlds Collide
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- June 20, 1989 - September 1989 (Theatre Gallery)
- Lyle Wilson, a Haisla artist, uses the traditional symbols of northern Kwagiutl art, shifting and fragmenting them into personal statements on art, culture, and power. A selection of his drawings, etchings, and silkscreen prints is accompanied by his works in wood and other media.
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National Museum of Man: Children of the Raven
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An Exhibition of the collected works of Joe David and Ron Hamilton, contemporary West Coast artists
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Guatemalan Highland Textiles
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- November 16 - December 31, 1976
- A colourful display of costumes, textiles and backstrap looms from the Guatemalan Highlands. A related demonstration was presented on November 18 at 1:00 p.m.
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