Monthly Archives: November 2010

Signed Without Signature Vignette

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The links below shows a short clip of some of the events at the opening reception for Signed Without Signature: Works by Charles and Isabella Edenshaw. We were joined by some of the Haida descendants of the Edenshaws, who performed and gave some moving speeches.

Signed Without Signature Exhibit Opening (Museum of Anthropology: MOA)

Welcome speeches and procession

And for those who haven’t yet seen it, here’s a link to a video of Bill McLennan describing the process of scanning bracelets in order to discover who was the creator.

Bill McLennan and northwest coast metal art

Marie Mauze

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Last night Marie  Mauzé gave a lecture at MOA as part of the first annual Douglas & McIntyre lecture series. Marie is Senior Researcher, CNRS  at Laboratoire d’anthropologie sociale in Paris and we were excited to have her present. The lecture was on surrealism in northwest coast art and I asked curator Dr. Carol Mayer to tell me what she thought were some highlights of the lecture.

At the beginning of her lecture Marie made the point that the use of the word ‘primitive’ was not considered derogatory during the surrealist movement.  It referred more to a search for something authentic, a sense of place unspoiled by the corruption and industrialization of the western world during

the first quarter or so of the 120th century.  However, she also emphasized that many of the surrealist ideas were riddled with contemporary evolutionary beliefs. It is this contradiction that has underpinned so much of the discourse around the surrealist approach to the arts of Africa, Oceania and the Northwest Coast.

Marie used the ideas of Andre Breton, Man Ray, Levi Strauss and others to illustrate how objects were perceived, displayed, and written about within the non-constructs of the surrealist movement.  They tried to approach objects without going through the process of rational thinking; they believed that objects should circulate (although some were avid collectors); they arbitrarily brought together objects from different cultures and realities in unusual and unexpected juxtapositions, specifically to promote and invoke new thoughts about reality and myth.  Andre Breton, in particular, looked at Northwest Coast transformation masks as the epitome of the Surrealists interest in myth, animism and magic. Such masks literally moved between these interests by the pulling of strings. The surrealists are criticized, especially by Northwest Coast artists, for their appropriation of knowledge, questionable collecting practices and lack of understanding of the cultural meanings of objects being manipulated.  Marie both recognized the difficulty of situating these criticisms within the intellectual climate of a different time and how the surrealists brought new ways of looking at and thinking about Northwest Coast objects that had, up to that time, been viewed primarily as specimens in ethnographic museums.  The discourse continues.

The lecture was a success and MOA hopes to host the Douglas & McIntyre lecture series annualy. Thanks to Marie  Mauzé for flying all the way from Paris to share her knowledge with MOA and UBC staff, students and visitors.

SATELLITE GALLERY OPENS FIRST GROUP SHOW – NO WINDOWS

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SATELLITE GALLERY’S FIRST GROUP SHOW INVITES THE PUBLIC TO DECODE THE CONVENTIONS OF ART AND EXHIBITION-MAKING

No Windows, on view at Satellite Gallery from November 27, 2010 to January 23, 2011, is the result of a unique collaboration between the departments of Anthropology, Art History and Curatorial Studies at the University of British Columbia, as graduate students in each of these programs have joined forces to curate this new and exciting exhibition.

The task for the curators and the artists of No Windows is to reveal the over-arching themes that are imposed onto art objects through exhibition practices, and to invite the public to decode the conventions of looking and thinking about art in Vancouver and beyond.

No Windows presents artworks by local and national artists Rhonda Weppler + Trevor Mahovsky, Adad Hannah, Jamie Drouin, and Zoe Tissandier. Each artist considers the structures that underlie gallery and museum practices—principles and assumptions that may seem invisible or commonsense, yet shape the creation, mediation, and reception of art.

Each work seeks to transform our perception of gallery practices. Rhonda Weppler + Trevor Mahovsky present for the first time in Vancouver Sun in an Empty Room. At Satellite, this project will be presented already complete, with a dense assemblage of found and made objects, offered as a record of labour and of adaptations to the spatial constraints of a group exhibition. Adad Hannah’s tableux vivants, or living pictures, Blind Date and Ouija, meditate on the idea of the performance archive and simultaneously still and moving images.

Jamie Drouin’s new installation, Field, calls attention to the harmful capabilities of noise pollution and how it activates experiences of which we may not be aware. Zoe Tissandier’s video work, When love flourished in M for medical textbooks, extends her recent investigations into

the classification and display of archived material and knowledge, using video and found text.

Join us for the opening reception on November 27 from 6 to 9 pm

*Top image Adad Hannah, Dinner Date, 2007-2010;Right image Zoe Tissandier, When Love Flourished in M for Medical Textbooks

Signed Without Signature: Works by Charles and Isabella Edenshaw

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Signed without Signature: Works by Isabella and Charles Edenshaw
Exhibition opening Thursday, November 25, 7-9 pm in The O’Brian Gallery at the UBC Museum of Anthropology 
  
Objects made by 19th-century Haida artists can be seen in museums and private collections around the world. The names of the carvers, painters, and weavers who made these works were, however, rarely recorded.

 
Isabella and Charles Edenshaw—also known by their Haida names Qwii.aang and Da.a xiigang—were prolific artists who lived and worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a time of profound culture change on the Northwest Coast. Although they never signed their work, each developed personal styles and inventive forms of expression that continue to inspire their artist-descendents today.
In this exhibition, MOA curator Bill McLennan focuses on Charles Edenshaw’s metalwork and painting, and Isabella Edenshaw’s basketry, to see how each artist created a recognizable “signature” and how it evolved through their long careers.


Drawing on MOA’s own collection, as well as those of private collectors and major institutions such as McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Museum of Vancouver, Royal British Columbia Museum, and Royal Ontario Museum, Signed without Signature will inaugurate The O’Brian Gallery, named in recognition of The Michael O’Brian Family Foundation’s recent gift of $1 million to the Museum. New exhibit cases, custom-designed by Milan’s Goppion Laboratorio (the same firm that designed MOA’s Multiversity Galleries casework), will showcase works ranging in material from gold, silver, wood, abalone, ivory, bone, and paint, and in form from fine jewelry and extraordinary woven and painted hats to objects of everyday use, including spoons, walking sticks, and napkin rings.
Besides the work of Charles and Isabella Edenshaw, the exhibition features works by other Haida artists, some of whom were their contemporaries, such as John Cross and Tom Price, and others who are either their descendents (such as their nephew, Charles Gladstone), or who continue to be inspired by their legacy. Artists of today whose works are in the show include Chief 7idansuu (Jim Hart), Robert Davidson, Ben Davidson, Bill Reid, Isabel Rorick, Ernest Swanson, and Darrell White, among others.


By showing the work of others alongside that of the Edenshaws, the exhibition addresses such questions as: What is the aesthetic that makes their work recognizable and so respected? How has it remained contemporary for

more than 100 years? Questions are raised as well about the process of attribution of unsigned artworks – a process that continues today, and is illustrated by a selection of materials in the show whose makers have yet to be identified.
 
Exhibition curated by Bill McLennan, text co-written and edited by Karen Duffek. Designed by Skooker Broome and David Cunningham

Thanks to MOA’s many Haida community advisors, in particular Chief 7idansuu (Jim Hart), and to the lenders: McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Museum of Vancouver, Royal British Columbia Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, and private collectors. Media sponsor: The Georgia Straight.

Watch Bill McLennan explain the process of scanning NWC bracelets on MOA’s youtube.

 

(from top) Detail, Walking stick by Charles Edenshaw, c. 1853-1920. MOA 7091; Spruce root hat (top view) woven by Isabella Edenshaw, painted by Charles Edenshaw, before 1980. MOA Nb1.489; Silver bracelet (beaver design) by Charles Edenshaw, c. 1890. MOA Nb1.742.

A Response to the Vancouver Police Museum’s “Top Ten Reasons Why Our Museum Rocks!”

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Jessica over at the Vancouver Police Museum wrote a wonderful blog post about the top ten reasons why the VPM rocks. I thought this was a great idea and a great post, so I decided to respond with my own list of reasons why I think MOA is memorable (in no particular order).

Top Ten Reasons Why MOA is Memorable!

10. MOA displays over 60% of its collections

When the Multiversity Galleries were built in 2009-10, MOA staff had the intention of displaying as much of the collection as possible! The 4,500 square foot space houses more than 10,000 objects within its cases and pullout drawers. The Ramp and Great Hall display some of MOA’s largest and oldest Northwest Coast objects, totem poles and carvings (and in such a lovely setting, too!) Outside the Museum one can find totem poles, the Haida Houses, Susan Point carvings and more!

 

9. MOA is a place of learning, research and teaching

As part of the University of British Columbia, MOA is at the frontier of anthropological and archaeological research and teaching. Some of MOA’s curators and even MOA’s director, Anthony Shelton, teach in the Anthropology department at UBC. I took ANTH 431, Museum Practice and Curatorship, last year with curator Jennifer Kramer (who is teaching again this year with curator Sue Rowley). Classes are held in the Museum’s ethnology, archaeology, and conservation labs , and in the library and archives. There are also a number of programs offered for grade school students.

8. MOA is at the forefront of collaborative research

MOA recognizes the diversity of Canada’s First Nations and, as the Museum is situated on ancestral Musqueam land, enjoys working with local communities to discuss, display, and interact with their histories. For 31 years MOA has hosted the Native Youth Program and works closely with the UBC First Nations House of Learning.

7. MOA makes it’s collections accessible to anyone!

This past September the MOACAT was launched on our website, making our collections accessible to people around the world. MOACAT terminals are also placed throughout the MVG (Multiversity Galleries) and Koerner Ceramics Gallery so that visitors can look up extensive information on objects, places and people. Fancy that!

 

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6. MOA is free to UBC staff, faculty and students

MOA likes to embrace the fact that it’s a part of the University, and so we welcome ALL student, staff and faculty to come through the Museum for free!

 

5. MOA hosts some of the most MEMORABLE events!

This past year MOA reopened after extensive renovations and hosted the extremely successful Border Zones exhibit, WAM! 2010, Man Ray (this weekend) and will be presenting Signed Without Signature: Works by Charles and Isabella Edenshaw in November. Museum staff LOVE to host numerous performances, lecture series, live demonstrations and exhibits to keep things interesting. Some of the performers we had this past year include Cris Derksen, the Git Hayetsk Dancers, Ache Brasil, Tibetan Monks and more! Hey, you can even have your wedding here, too.

 

4. MOA Curators love to engage with visitors!

Since early October, MOA Curators have been giving free guided tours to visitors every Tuesday from 1-2pm. I’ve spoken with some of the curators about their experiences and have received excellent feedback. It really makes them feel great for the rest of the day when visitors show a keen interest in what they are doing! There are also free tours given twice a day by MOA Volunteers.

 

3. MOA employs UBC students and has a plethora of volunteers

MOA employs students as work studies, interns and tour guides. I am finishing my undergraduate degree at UBC and am working as a work study, myself! The Museum also has a HUGE number of volunteers who run tours, student programs and events. MOA has more than 80 volunteers , and many of them have been volunteering with MOA for a LONG time!

2. MOA likes hearing from you!!

We read your comments, respond to questions and ALWAYS want to hear from you! Have a question for a curator? Post it on facebook, the blog, or our twitter and I will make sure you’re question is answered! In fact, I strongly encourage questions (we are a teaching institution, after all).

1.  MOA has global relationships

Our curators and staff are from all over the world and travel to distant locations (Curator Carol Mayer works sometimes works in Vanuatu!) to build and maintain strong personal relationships that are beneficial for

everyone! When the Museum received a donation from the Williams family it began a relationship that blossomed into a two documentaries about a reconciliation ceremony between the community in Erromango and the William’s family, and a relationship between the Museum, the Williams’ and the people in Erromango!