[BCMA] MOA Opens Edenshaw Exhibit Nov 25

Mon Nov 15 09:29:08 PST 2010

University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology Media Release -
November 15, 2010

one

four

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bracelet

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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 Daryl 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.

Images: (top right) Flat scanned image of silver bracelet by Charles
Edenshaw c. 1890. MOA Nb1.761. Scan by Bill McLennan; (left, 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.

MOA

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Twitter - MOA_UBC
MOA Blog - www.moa.ubc.ca/blog
MOA Collection Online - www.moa.ubc.ca/collection-online
Satellite Gallery - www.satellitegallery.ca

Contact
Jennifer Webb, Communications Manager
604.822.5950 or jenwebb at interchange.ubc.ca
UBC Museum of Anthropology
6393 N.W. Marine Drive, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z2 www.moa.ubc.ca 

Museum and Shop Hours
Closed Mon, open Tues 10 am to 9 pm & Wed-Sun 10 am to 5 pm. Closed Dec 25 &
26.

UBC

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