Aboriginal Art
Duncan: Museum-quality Native art featured downtown
The arts council’s first exhibit of all-Native work opens Thursday in downtown Duncan. “Part of our mandate is inclusive of Native art,” said Jeffrey Birkin of the Cowichan Valley Arts Council. He’s tanked up about some three-dozen multi-media pieces being displayed under heavy security in CVAC’s storefront gallery on Station Street. The exhibit dubbed Aboriginal [...]
Indigenous Artist takes Off
Following a whirlwind of 2010 Olympic activity, Tsimshian artist Bill Helin continues to break new ground. Bill’s 12-metre war canoe, Ravensong, carved from a 540-year-old cedar tree from the Stikine Valley, was the centerpiece of the the Klahow-ya Village at the Pan Pacific Hotel during the 2010 Olympics. The Klahow-ya exhibit was organized by the [...]
Haida artist Davidson wins B.C.’s Audain Prize
Robert Davidson, a renowned Haida artist, has been named winner of the Audain Prize for lifetime achievement, B.C.’s largest visual arts award. The prize from the Audain Foundation grants $30,000 annually to a senior British Columbia artist, selected by an independent jury. Davidson is known for combining traditional imagery with modern techniques in his masks [...]
Vancouver: Celebration of Musqueam Heritage located at GM Place: Illustration of Musqueam traditions and history highlighted on signage outside Gate 3
Canucks Sports & Entertainment is pleased to announce an introduction of signage designed to illustrate the rich history, unique culture and proud traditions of the Musqueam people. The signage celebrates the coastal people, originating from the Coast Salish, who have inhabited Vancouver and its outlying territories for centuries. The signage can now be viewed outside [...]
Vancouver curator to take part in Sydney Biennale: Tania Willard is one of six curators to participate in Canada Council initiative to expand skills and raise profile of first nations artists
Vancouver curator Tania Willard is one of a group of Canadian aboriginal curators being sent by the Canada Council to take part in the 17th Sydney Biennale. Before Willard arrives in Australia for the opening on May 12, she’ll be going to New Zealand to visit several of that country’s major art galleries and Maori [...]
Native art comes to life in Summerland
Professional and amateur artists from around BC have travelled to the Okanagan to learn how to turn a block of wood into something beautiful and spiritual. Master Carver Aaron Nelson-Moody, more commonly known as Splash, is an expert on creating decorative wood masks. A member of the Squamish First Nation, he became interested in traditional [...]
Nelson Moody carving out a niche Coast Salish carver showcases craft to the world, and Sea to Sky, during Olympic and Paralympic Games
Canada’s First Nations people made it pretty clear at the Olympic opening ceremonies that they welcome other cultures onto their territory. And during the Paralympic Games, Squamish Nation carver Aaron Nelson Moody will continue to welcome people to his traditional territory, while teaching them about his people’s history and culture. The 43-year-old artist began training [...]
B.C. Haida artist Robert Davidson gets Governor General’s visual-arts award
Eight Canadian artists, were named winners of the 2010 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts Tuesday at the Cinémathèque Québécoise in Montreal. They are: Haida sculptor Robert Davidson Filmmaker André Forcier Painter Rita Letendre Video artist Tom Sherman Photographer Gabor Szilasi Painter and sculptor Claude Tousignant Artist Terry Ryan, for outstanding contribution Glass [...]
North Vancouver: Carving out a city welcome
North Vancouver city hall could one day feature a traditional Coast Salish welcome figure created by local students under the guidance of a master carver. Tsnomot-Brad Baker, North Vancouver school district vice-principal and a member of the Squamish Nation, presented his proposal to city council Monday. “Carson Graham is one of the very few schools [...]
Festival of aboriginal artists at local libraries in March
Aboriginal artists from a variety of disciplines will showcase their talents and cultures through multiple performances and workshops taking place in March at various Fraser Valley Regional Library (FVRL) and Surrey Public Library (SPL) locations. “Our library systems have joined forces and worked together to create cooperative programming to promote aboriginal arts as a way [...]
Yuxweluptun draws the line: The art establishment’s embrace of the aboriginal artist hasn’t blunted his rhetorical hatchet
You don’t really have a revolution until someone draws a line, and thanks to the line-drawing prowess of Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Canada is in the midst of a full-on aboriginal siege. This time, there’s no need to circle the wagons. Just open your eyes to the work of Yuxweluptun and a new generation of young [...]
Andy Everson Gifts Hockey “Bear” Print to CNN President at 2010 Winter Games
Andy Everson gifts “Bear” print, a silhouette of a goalie with an Aboriginal background bear design to CNN President. He has been invited by CNN to interview nightly for a different art print from his “Spirits of Snow & Ice Collection” to feature the various Olympics winter sports at Canvas Lounge, located at 99 Powell Street. [...]
‘We Are Here’
There were no nosebleed seats at the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Games, says Jody Broomfield, not from where he was sitting. “I was four rows from the top of the roof, but it was the best seat in the house.” The Squamish Nation artist created the crest for the Four Host First Nations [...]
Talking Stick Festival reflects resurging Native arts
According to founding member Marilyn Jensen, the Tlingit cultural troupe known as the Dakka Kwaan Dancers started out as a “mistake”: a failed attempt by some young residents of Carcross, in the Yukon, to capitalize on the tourists who were coming their way from the nearby Alaskan port of Skagway. In a move reminiscent of [...]
Wearable art is a popular Olympics souvenir
As with every Olympics, the big event happening here has its own set of official souvenirs — plush toys, mittens, toques and at least a few real Cowichan sweaters for sale at official venues. They may have something Canadian about them, but the fact is, much of it wasn’t made here, says silkscreener Ingrid Doerr. [...]
