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• January 28 - February 9, 1986. A commercial exhibition.

• November 4, 2021 – March 27, 2022
• CURATORS: Nya Lewis (founder + director, BlackArt Gastown), Nuno Porto (MOA Curator, Africa), Titilope Salami (PhD candidate, Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory, UBC)
• Sankofa is the idea of moving forward while reaching back to connect to one’s heritage. It is the notion that taking pride in heritage helps us to move into the future. Sankofa comes from the Ghanaian Akan language, and the word and its essence have been adopted by many African and Black people around the globe as an expression of cultural and political affirmation. Sankofa: African Routes, Canadian Roots looks at some of the divergent—and often fragmented—paths of political mobilization and cultural assertion that African and Black people in the diaspora have taken. Centered on works by contemporary artists from Lagos, Nigeria, and Vancouver, in conversation with objects in MOA’s permanent collection, this exhibition shares stories, histories and projects of African and Black affirmation. In particular, it draws connections to historical contributions and the growing vitality of Black Canadians in Vancouver. Ultimately, Sankofa: African Routes, Canadian Roots celebrates different ways of understanding the world through the lenses of African and Black communities, the wealth of their cultural and art practices, and their inspiring legacy.

Use for: Statue

• February 6-11, 2007 (Museum Lobby)
• Dominic Benhura is an acclaimed Zimbabwean artist credited for his contributions in transforming Shona stone sculpture into a world-class modern art. The sculptures shown here attest to his ability to portray human feeling through form and movement rather than facial expression.

Use for: Shuswap, Secwepemc

• 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.

• May 1980 – February 1981

• February 3 - April 12, 1998
• In this exhibit, MOA showcases works from its collection of over 300 Northwest Coast prints by such artists as Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth), Robert Davidson (Haida), Freda Diesing (Haida), Walter Harris (Gitksan), Tony Hunt (Kwakwaka’wakw), Susan Point (Musqueam), and Roy Henry Vickers (Tsimshian).

• October 27, 1982 – June 5, 1983 (Gallery 5)

• November 24, 1987 - February 28, 1988 (Gallery 9)
• An exhibition of patchwork and embroidery wall hangings - traditional folk art that became a form of protest against the harsh conditions of life for Chile’s poor. The project was made possible through the support of the Salt Spring Island Voice of Women.

• May 16, 2019 – October 14, 2019
• CURATOR: Nicola Levell (Associate Professor, Anthropology, UBC)
• Over 250 puppets, old and new, from 15 countries, are illuminated in MOA’s dramatic new exhibition. These exquisite puppets—sometimes charming, sometimes a little bit scary, and always entertaining—come together and reveal our enduring fascination with storytelling. For thousands of years, knowledge holders and storytellers around the world have engaged puppets as a means to dramatize the human experience. Puppets have been delighting, entertaining and educating audiences of all ages, letting our imaginations soar. Puppets are the precious purveyors of our epics, dreams and satires. Enter into a theatrical world of kings and queens, demons and clowns, supernatural beings and more. Extraordinary stories and fantastical characters fill the stages, cases and multimedia installations of this enchanting exhibition. Whether animated using age- old techniques or digital technologies, puppets are manipulated by hand, and here you’ll discover more about the different forms of manipulation and animation that give them life: shadow, string, rod, hand, and stop-motion. With a focus on Asia, Europe and the Americas, the exhibition draws from MOA’s stunning international collection of puppets—the largest in Western Canada-—and reveals new acquisitions from China, Brazil, Sicily, Java, the UK and France. Shadows, Strings and Other Things is an immersive experience that illuminates how puppetry continues to evolve and innovate in the hands of artists and performers who keep the tradition alive. From graceful Vietnamese water puppets and comical British hand puppets to the captivating stop-motion puppet animation of the award-winning Indigenous artist Amanda Strong—the full spectrum of human resilience and creativity is on display.

• 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.

• August 6, 2020 – January 3, 2021
• Travelling Exhibit, by Kent Monkman
• Kent Monkman’s Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience takes you on a journey through the past 150 years of Canada. It is a journey that reclaims and reinserts Indigenous voices into the collective memory of our country, challenging and shattering colonial ideas of our history.
• The artist’s gender fluid, time-travelling alter-ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, is the narrator of this story, told through the lens of Indigenous resilience. Miss Chief leads us from New France and Confederation to the urban environment of Winnipeg’s North End and contemporary life on the reserve.
• Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience provides a searing critique of Canada’s colonial policies, past and present, on the occasion of the recent sesquicentennial. As Monkman explains, “The last 150 years—the period of Modernity—represents the most devastating period for First Peoples, including the signing of the numbered treaties, the reserve system, genocidal policies of the residential schools, mass incarceration and urban squalor.”
• This exhibition features nearly 80 pieces, including Monkman’s own paintings, installations and sculptures, in dialogue with historical artifacts loaned from museums and private collections across Canada. MOA is the final stop for this critically acclaimed travelling exhibition, which has been on a multi-year, cross-country tour to nine cities. Kent Monkman is a Canadian artist of Cree ancestry who works with a variety of media, including painting, film/video, performance, and installation. His work is known for its provocative reinterpretations of Romantic North American landscapes, and it explores themes of colonization, sexuality, loss and resilience—the complexities of historic and contemporary Indigenous experience.
• This exhibition was originally scheduled for May 8 – October 12, 2020. In response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, this exhibition was postponed and rescheduled for August 6, 2020 – January 3, 2021.
• This exhibition was produced by the Art Museum at the University of Toronto in partnership with the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown, and was made possible in part by the Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council.
• Lead Sponsor: Donald R. Sobey Foundation

• April 5, 1983 - June 1984 (Orientation Centre) Student exhibition: The box, its friends, foes and ancestors.
• Student exhibition: The box, its friends, foes and ancestors.

• November 26, 2010 – September, 30, 2011 (Gallery 3)
• From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, Charles and Isabella Edenshaw produced Haida art that continues to inspire the finest Haida artists of today, many of whom are their descendants. What is the aesthetic that makes their work recognizable and so respected? How has it remained contemporary for more than 100 years? This exhibit addresses these and other questions by highlighting Charles Edenshaw’s engraved silver bracelets, as well as his wife Isabella’s basketry, which Charles painted. Join curator Bill McLennan at 7 pm on Tuesday, November 30 for a talk and tour of the exhibit. Media sponsor The Georgia Straight.