Tag Archives: museum of anthropology

Doug the Mentor: Don’t lose the centre line.

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By Alison Dexter

Courtesy of U'mista Cultural Society and the Audrey and Harry Hawthorn Library and Archive, MOA A002261C, Photo by Vickie Jensen

To those he mentored, Doug Cranmer’s teaching style was reflective of his individual personality. Many of his students remember his strict emphasis on technique, detail, achieving equilibrium while not over-doing the design, and his mantra to ‘never lose the centre line.’ Despite these firm guidelines, Doug encouraged his students to experiment with their carvings, trying to get them to really see what they were looking at. Many of his students helped him with major projects such as the new Alert Bay Big House, the U’mista Cultural Centre, and the Wa’kas Pole in Stanley Park. Cranmer’s advice extended beyond carving techniques, serving as a metaphor for his attitude towards life. He wanted his

students to love doing their art and encouraged taking breaks when it became a source of stress or panic, reminding them ‘it’s just wood.’ Doug Cranmer never lost his centre line and this inspired and remains alive in the work of his students.

Courtesy of U'mista Cultural Society and the Audrey and Harry Hawthorn Library and Archive, MOA A001990C, Photo by Vickie Jensen

‘If I could teach people to see what they are looking at, I would have the whole of Alert Bay carving like crazy’ -Doug Cranmer.

Questions about ‘the club’

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Since our announcement on Tuesday, March 20 of the donation of a ceremonial club given as a gift or in trade to Captain James Cook 234 years ago this month by the Nuu-chah-nulth people of BC’s West Coast, we have received many kind congratulations and comments, plus a few questions. We thought it would be great to share some of the questions that have come to us – as well as their answers, if we know them!

Bill McLennan photo

Here are a few to get us started:

Q: “I found the Global Coverage of the club very interesting! I have previously seen one very similar to it and it was made of yew wood also.  Why is the club so shiny in the photograph I found on the internet – was it varnished by a previous owner, or painted? I researched the club I previously saw many years ago and could not find one of any age, in the North American area that was similar, I did however find some similarity in Hawaii.  I believed the club was carved in Canada – Yew wood does not grow in Hawaii as far as I know – but carved by someone of Hawaii & local descent. Interested in what you think…”

A (Answer by Karen Duffek, MOA Curator of Contemporary Visual Art & Pacific Northwest): “Thanks for your interesting query! There are indeed many questions surrounding this club, and we will continue to research its provenance. We’re hoping we can do a scientific analysis of a microscopic sample of the wood at some time, although the wood does feel and look like yew, and has the right weight and density.

“MOA and other museums do have a number of similar, yew-wood, hand-and-sphere clubs, somewhat sturdier in design, and formerly used

as halibut clubs — these are all much more recent than the Cook club, with the earliest dating to the late 1800s or so, and others from the first few decades of the 20th century. These objects are, from left to right, from MOA (Kwakwaka’wakw), MOA (Northwest Coast — tribe unknown), National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC (Alaska source), and Royal BC Museum (Kwakwaka’wakw):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The Cook club has a gorgeous patina that appears to be completely natural; it’s not varnish-shiny in actuality, though there is some shininess. This is a feature of patinated yew-wood objects of some age and probably lots of handling.

“Our curator with expertise in the South Pacific does not feel there is anything closely similar there, though she did hear from a colleague that there are comparable items in the Marquesas. So I will be interested to see some photos of those. I think the motif likely does have a universal presence in different forms.”

If you have other questions or comments, please let us know! Thanks…

Doug Cranmer: The Man Who Taught Bill Reid Everything He Knew

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By Alyssa Gallant

Doug and Bill Reid carving Wasco (Haida sea wolf) at Totem Park, ubc, as part of the Haida House Project, 1961. moa 2784/3 (printed in 2009); photo by Takao Tanabe.[1]

 In 1958, Doug Cranmer received a phone call from Bill Reid inviting him to help on a carving project that had been commissioned by the Museum of Anthropology (MOA).  Until earlier that summer, Doug had spent most of his life fishing and working in the lumber industry, occasionally studying carving with his step- grandfather, Mungo Martin.  However, that summer the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had imposed its first ten day ban on fishing and in response Doug claimed that he would never fish again.[2]  That year would also be his last logging.  He moved to Vancouver to work with Bill Reid and, as Doug later stated, “That was the beginning of my carving career.”[3]

In the nearly three years the two men worked together, they experimented with various carving techniques and ways of copying images from other, older Haida poles.  In truth, the two men were at the time, quite inexperienced

in carving.  It has since been rumoured that Reid taught Doug how to use the carving tools, such as the adze and chainsaw, and how to carve in general.  However, Reid had this to say: “Nobody, I’m sure, including me, could have influenced Doug one iota in any direction…if he learned anything in that period it was just improving his technique.  He retained his own style, which he still does.”[4]  Doug worked on the project with Reid until 1961, when he accidentally adzed his Achilles tendon and had to spend five weeks in the hospital.  However, the two would work together again in 1962 and 1963 restoring the Wa’kas, Nhe-is-bik and Sis-kaulas poles in Stanley Park.[5]

After his time working with Bill Reid, Doug began carving full-time, and opened one of the first Native-run art galleries in Canada. His work gained international respect and he experimented with a variety of styles and influences – Kwakwaka’wakw and Haida being only two of many.  Doug’s work was very much his own, and it is being brought together in the first ever solo exhibit of his work in MOA’s Kesu’.

Though Bill Reid’s influence on the work of Doug Cranmer is questionable, Doug, when asked if he had ever worked with Bill Reid would respond, in fun, with, “Yes, I taught him everything he knew.”

[1] Jennifer Kramer, Kesu’: The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer (Vancouver: Douglas & MacIntyre Publishers Inc.), pp. 31

[2] Kramer, Kesu’, pp. 31

[3] Doug Cranmer, “‘Other-Side’ Man,” Bill Reid and Beyond, pp.175.

[4] Cranmer, Other Side Man,” pp.175.

[5] Kramer, Kesu’, pp. 32.

Why is Doug Cranmer featured at MOA?

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By Kate Petrusa

As an Anthropology graduate student very new to the world of museums, I didn’t have the slightest idea how much thought and intention goes into selecting and curating exhibits.  Starting March 17, 2012, MOA is presenting Kesu’: The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer, showing Doug’s impact on Northwest Coast art and artists. So significant was his impact that, after his passing in 2006, a large group of family, friends, and community members worked hard raising money and generating ideas in order to recognize Doug. Together, they laid the groundwork that has brought the Kesu’ exhibition and book to fruition, with the enthusiastic help of MOA.

“Courtesy of the Audrey & Harry Hawthorn Library & Archives, UBC Museum of Anthropology.” MOA AOO2294C. by Vickie Jensen. MOA AOO2294C

 

Doug’s influences as an artist, mentor and cultural leader are extensive. He taught a number of well-known Northwest Coast artists, including Bruce Alfred and Beau Dick (Kramer 2012). In 1962-63, with Bill Reid, Doug restored the Wa’kas pole originally from Kwakwaka’wakw territory and now at Stanley Park (Kramer 2012: 32). He carved five major pieces at Expo ’86, helping to put Northwest Coast art on the international art map (Kramer 2012: 55). Doug and his students also assisted with the building of the U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, BC, a facility dedicated to the survival of cultural heritage of the Kwakwaka?wakw people (U’mista Cultural Society 2011).

“Courtesy of the Audrey & Harry Hawthorn Library & Archives, UBC Museum of Anthropology.” MOA AOO1990C. Photo by Vickie Jensen

 

In 2006, a young ’Namgis carver, Rande Cook, visited Doug and asked permission to create a retrospective of his work. Five months later, Doug passed away from lung cancer, and Rande began the project with the help of Doug’s family, friends, and fellow artists. By organizing an art auction at Victoria’s Empress Hotel on April 7, 2007, they raised significant funds selling donated art (two pieces sold to MOA), and put these funds towards realizing Doug’s retrospective, now embodied in the Kesu’ exhibit and the accompanying book (Kramer 2012: 117).

With funds to jump-start the exhibition, three women stepped in to sustain this project: Vivien Cranmer, Doug’s wife; Gloria Cranmer Webster, Doug’s eldest sister; and Dr. Jennifer Kramer, MOA Curator. Vivien worked to secure MOA as the place to host the exhibition, arranged interviews, and tracked down Doug’s art from private collections. Gloria provided invaluable insights into Doug’s personal life growing up in Alert Bay, contributed one-of-a-kind family photographs, and imparted expert knowledge

concerning Doug’s cultural leadership (Kramer 2012: 125). Jennifer synthesized many hours of interview transcripts, historical data, personal anecdotes, and diverse perspectives to bring forth a concise and integrated picture of who Doug Cranmer is.

The efforts of so many contributors to the Kesu’ exhibition and book demonstrate the extent to which Doug Cranmer was truly a remarkable and unforgettable artist, mentor, friend, and community member. Come take a closer look!

Pole Raising in the Great Hall

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By Matthew Willis

Photo by Matthew Willis

By the end of this week, the MOA galleries will have three new additions: two new totem poles - one by Mungo Martin (Kwakwaka’wakw) and another by Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth) - will be raised in the Great Hall, and a pair of carvings by Eric Robertson (Metis/Gitxsan) will be placed at the entrance to the Multiversity Galleries opposite The Raven.  Conservator Heidi Swierenga spoke to me about the poles and the process of raising them. ”It’s like watching the poles fly around the room,” she says. If you have the chance, come on down and watch the spectacle!

Heidi gave me a good history of the poles when I talked with her. Martin’s was most in need of restoration, as it had had 60 years of outside erosion and was carved before the preservation technology we have today was developed. A lack of water caps, animal infestation, and a broken beak on the top of the pole, signaled that it was time to be taken down. I was told that poles rot from the top down, with most of the heartwood being the first thing to decompose, and because there was such a large section at the top of the pole, it was lucky more damage wasn’t seen in this aging carving.

Meanwhile, the pole by Joe David was in excellent condition. It once stood as a Welcome Figure outside MOA, but was removed when it was agreed that the exterior of MOA should have a consistently Musqueam presence, since Museum is located on traditional Musqueam land. It had been taken down and stored a few years before MOA closed for renovations about 4 years ago. The figure will now find a place amongst the other totems in the Great Hall.

Robertson chose wood for his carvings that was very green and thus cracked easily as it aged. They were taken down five years ago after seams burst and the original wax coating had been stripped away by the curious hands of visitors. What Robertson has done now is recoat the piece in urethane, which gives it a safer and sleeker appearance, and still allows it to be touchable. (Hear that Museum visitors? More touchables!)

Each piece that’s being installed has received cleaning and restoration work. Martin’s has had the beak re-attached via a carefully placed steel joint inserted into the centre of the pole, so not to challenge its integrity both structurally and artistically. Heidi and curator Bill McLennan had discussions with people who know Martin’s work, and who advised them on how the pole should look when raised. Rather than cleaning it so it looked like it was brand new, the choice was made to visibly maintain the appearance that the pole had a life outside for a long period of time.  David’s pole, because it was in good condition to begin with, received a regular surface cleaning and nothing new was done to it. MOA was lucky to have Robertson come and do the restoration on his piece himself: this allowed the artist to be perhaps more liberal with the work than conservators and museums normally would be.

When MOA opened in 1976, there was a ceremony for all the poles that were raised in the Great Hall at that time. What about these new poles? There will be no ceremony this week for their raising, but one will be arranged for

later in the year. Heidi shared an interesting anecdote about the raising: the people who raised the poles in 1976, Pro Tech Industrial Movers, are the same people who are doing the raising this week. One of the workers apparently found a penny he placed on one of the poles 36 years ago and was delighted to find it again.

To share in this unique experience, the movers will be working throughout the week in the Great Hall where they can be observed from a safe distance. Their lifts and rigging equipment are a sight to see – just be careful not to whistle around them. In the European Age of Sail, sailors communicated to each other via whistles, and if an absent-minded person hit  a high note nearby, it might be mistaken for a signal and who knows what disastrous things might have happened!

 

Photo by Heidi Swierenga