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MOA Press Releases
March 19, 2012
Last privately-held Northwest Coast object collected on Captain Cook's 3rd voyage donated to MOA
An object of global historical and cultural significance, received by explorer Captain James Cook from a Canadian First Nation during his final voyage (1776-1779), is being donated to the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology (MOA) by a leading arts philanthropist.
Recently purchased through a private dealer in New York, and valued at $1.2 million, the rare ceremonial club is said to be the last remaining Northwest Coast aboriginal object collected during Captain Cook’s 3rd Pacific voyage not yet housed in a public museum. Thanks to the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts, the club returns to British Columbia where, in 1778, the famous explorer likely received it from the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Vancouver Island’s west coast, 234 years ago.
“This ceremonial club has immense historical and cultural value. I am delighted to play a part in its return to Canada’s west coast,” says Michael Audain, chairman of the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts, and one of Canada’s most active arts supporters. “While certain Nuu-chah-nulth objects collected by Cook exist in museums abroad – for example, in London, Berlin, and Vienna – this is the first and only in Canada. With our Foundation’s donation, I hope to encourage the repatriation of other Northwest Coast art works to public museums and cultural centres in British Columbia.”
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March 2, 2012
New Exhibition Opens: Kesu': The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer
Opening Reception: Friday, March 16, 7 pm (free; everyone welcome); exhibition on view through September 3, 2012.
Kesu’: The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer honours a man who embodied ‘indigenous modern’ before the term was invented, but preferred the descriptor ‘whittler’ or ‘doodler’ to ‘Kwakwaka’wakw artist.’ Accompanied by a full-color book by curator Dr. Jennifer Kramer, this unique exhibition captures the artist’s personality, his paradoxes, his range of work, and his profound influence on generations of Northwest Coast artists.
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March 1, 2012
UBC Museum of Anthropology receives private ‘treasure’ of early Bill Reid works
An important collection of early works by one of Canada’s best loved artists, Bill Reid, can be seen by the public for the first time thanks to a major donation to UBC’s Museum of Anthropology (MOA) from Vancouver’s Friedman family.
The Haida artist created eleven intricate pieces of gold and silver jewellery over a 20-year period (1954-1974) for Sydney Friedman and his late wife Constance Livingstone-Friedman, who were longstanding UBC professors and early patrons of Reid.
Standouts of the collection include an exquisite gold bracelet featuring a raven with cut-out wings and feathers, a gold brooch and matching earrings, a hinged silver bracelet with an eagle motif, and a silver picture frame fully engraved with a bear motif.
“This collection has outstanding significance, not only as a representation of Bill Reid’s extraordinary early work – and the value of such material for the study of Canadian art history – but also in encompassing one collector-family’s relationship with the artist over a 20-year period,” says MOA curator Bill McLennan.
Read moreMay 4, 2011
UBC Museum of Anthropology receives prestigious national landmark status
MEDIA RELEASE | May 4, 2011
The University of British Columbia’s iconic Museum of Anthropology, designed by the renowned late architect Arthur Erickson, has received one of Canada’s most prestigious architectural awards.
Read moreJanuary 12, 2011
'The Forgotten' Project Cancelled at MOA
The Museum of Anthropology is committed to encouraging discussion and increasing awareness about contemporary issues that affect societies locally and around the world. About a year ago, we chose to show ‘The Forgotten’ Project: Paintings by Pamela Masik in the belief that the exhibition could be a catalyst for discussion about and a driver for positive change with regard to gender discrimination and racialized violence toward women everywhere. The exhibition was scheduled to be shown from February 15-March 21, 2011.
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