ARTS
Talent converges at gallery Cherry-bark baskets to sand-carved masks, works are a testament to indigenous gifts VISUAL AR TS XI XANYA DZAM At the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art until September 4
Xi xanya dzam, the title of small exhibition at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, is borrowed from the Kwak’wala language. Pronounced “hee hun ya zam”, it is used to describe “incredibly talented and gifted people who create works of art”. Aptly, it is applied here to past winners of lifetime-achievement B.C. Creative Achievement Awards for First Nations Art. In addition to spotlighting the accomplishments of Primrose Adams (Haida), Dempsey Bob (TahltanTlingit), Rena Point Bolton (Sto:lo), Mandy Brown (Nlaka’pamux), Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth), Robert Davidson (Haida), Alvin Mack (Nuxalk), Mary Michell (Carrier), Earl Muldon (Gitxsan), Susan Point (Musqueam), and Norman Tait (Nisga’a), the exhibition grapples with different social and linguistic readings of “achievement” and “excellence”. It also provides an opportunity to consider how these qualities are celebrated and rewarded across cultures. While touring the Straight through the show, curator Beth Carter explained that who gives what to whom—and how honours are bestowed—varies from place to place and people to people. In many Northwest Coast First Nations, she said, the honoree presents gifts to the audience, thanking them for witnessing the event or ceremony and, in so doing, enfolding the honour into that people’s history. Organized by Carter and guest curator Lou-ann Neel, Xi xanya dzam represents the first time works
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Norman Tait’s Weeping Volcano Woman mask. Kenji Nagai photo.
by these award winners have been exhibited together. This means that we can see Tait’s big and extraordinary Weeping Volcano Woman mask, with its small frog-human hybrids emerging from its eyes and mouth, alongside Bolton’s exquisitely woven and imbricated cedar-bark baskets. We can encounter Davidson’s highly abstracted paintings, which riff on two-dimensional Haida design components, in close proximity to Michell’s gorgeously beaded moosehide clothing. And we can consider Muldon’s delicately carved gold bracelet, Killer Whale and Bear, in light of Bob’s Raven Frontlet, with its long beak, black nostrils, and— characteristic of Bob’s distinctive style—heavy-lidded eyes. The work of each artist is accompanied by a short biography and
also a phrase in his or her original language that is roughly equivalent to xi xanya dzam. (In the introductory panel, the curators acknowledge a team of “language keepers who generously helped us identify words and phrases in each artist’s traditional language”.) Mack is represented here by a Creator Mask, a model pole, and a talking stick, all carved out of yellow cedar. The beautiful Nuxalkmc description of his achievement, “Apcwakmtimutilh ala smayustalh ats,” translates as “We become uplifted by our traditions.” Adams, whose finely woven spruce-root hats and miniature baskets speak of her descent from a line of famously creative Haida women, is acknowledged in Old Massett Haida, “Gin ‘ la xay ‘aayaagang”—“She is an excellent weaver.” The artists here work in both traditional and contemporary media and materials. On the one hand, we have Brown’s cedar-root and cherry-bark baskets, executed using ancient coil basketry techniques, which she is credited with preserving. On the other, we have Point’s innovative “rattle” in blown and sand-carved glass, etched with an image of two loons. David’s Welcome Mask, made in collaboration with Tlingit artist Preston Singletary, resembles a historic Nuu-chah-nulth mask in wood, but is also executed in glass. And his Drum With Whale Design effectively combines quite different styles of painting and subtly rendered graphite drawing, to beautiful effect. Just as the title asserts, all the artists represented here are (and were: Brown passed away in 2015, and Tait in 2016) “incredibly talented and gifted people”. The show is pure joy to view. > ROBIN LAURENCE
PRESENTS
VSO SPRING FESTIVAL A BRITISH FANTASY
THE 2017 VSO SPRING FESTIVAL features Maestro Bramwell Tovey, violinist/violist James Ehnes, pianist Ian Parker, and narrator Christopher Gaze in a 5-concert celebration of British composers and their most popular works. Highlights include Holst The Planets, Elgar Enigma Variations, and The Last Night of the Proms. Order the Festival Pass (all 5 concerts) and save!
SONGS AND SERENADES
SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 8PM, ORPHEUM James Ehnes leader/violin/viola* ELGAR Serenade for Strings in E minor BRITTEN Lachrymae* VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis BRITTEN Prelude and Fugue for 18 strings VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending* ELGAR Introduction and Allegro*
JAMES EHNES
THE PLANETS: AN HD ODYSSEY MONDAY, APRIL 24, 8PM, ORPHEUM Bramwell Tovey conductor James Ehnes viola* Elektra Women’s Choir° Morna Edmundson chorus director GAVIN HIGGINS Velocity WALTON Viola Concerto* HOLST The Planets° With HD VIDEO FROM NASA AND THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, shown on the big screen as the orchestra performs The Planets. BRAMWELL TOVEY
HENRY V SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 8PM, ORPHEUM Bramwell Tovey conductor Ian Parker piano* Christopher Gaze narrator° Langley Fine Arts School Choir° Jim Sparks chorus director MACONCHY Proud Thames MACMILLAN Fantasia on Scottish Airs RIDOUT Fall Fair ADDINSELL Warsaw Concerto* WALTON Henry V° CHRISTOPHER GAZE
ENIGMA SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 7PM, ORPHEUM Bramwell Tovey conductor/piano* ELGAR Piano Quintet* ELGAR Enigma Variations: An Exploration ELGAR Enigma Variations Maestro Tovey performs with VSO musicians in the Elgar Piano Quintet, then explains the Enigma Variations with his trademark insight and wit, before a full performance of Elgar’s landmark work in the second half of the concert. BRAMWELL TOVEY
LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS MONDAY, MAY 1, 8PM, ORPHEUM
Bramwell Tovey conductor Vancouver Bach Choir VSO School of Music Sinfonietta The Last Night of the Proms is the customary ending to the Promenades series at the Royal Albert Hall, a tradition proudly upheld by Bramwell Tovey, the Vancouver Bach Choir, the VSO School of Music Sinfonietta and the VSO.
BRAMWELL TOVEY WITH THE VSO
FESTIVAL SPECIAL EVENTS The VSO Spring Festival includes PRE-CONCERT TALKS which begin one hour before each concert, and POST-CONCERT Q&A with Maestro Tovey and guest soloists. FREE TO TICKETHOLDERS. @VSOrchestra MEDIA SPONSOR
PURCHASE YOUR FESTIVAL PASS
604.876.3434
vancouversymphony.ca/springfest
APRIL 20 – 27 / 2017 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 29