Pipe bowl in the form of a bird. Tlingit, late 19th century. Hardwood, copper. Image courtesy UBC Museum of Anthropology.
Our editors’ weekly roundup of Canadian art news.
The Museum of Anthropology at UBC in Vancouver has received a donation of more than 200 pieces of Indigenous art, worth an estimated $7 million, from an anonymous donor, in addition to infrastructure funds for a new Gallery of Northwest Coast Masterworks from the Doggone Foundation and the Government of Canada. The works in the donation include rare historical pieces and fine carvings, jewellery, basketry and textiles by artists including Bill Reid, Charles Edenshaw, Robert Davidson, Isabel Rorick and Dempsey Bob, making it “the largest collection of Northwest Coast First Nations art to return to BC in recent decades.” This collection will be housed within the Gallery of Northwest Coast Masterworks, which will be funded by a $3-million donation from Montreal charity the Doggone Foundation and a $500,000 grant from the federal government as part of the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program. Construction of the new gallery will begin this month with a slated opening to the public on National Aboriginal Day, June 21, 2017.
The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto has issued a formal apology for the 1989–99 exhibit “Into the Heart of Africa,” which was widely criticized for racism. ROM deputy director of collections and research Mark Engstrom stated that, “‘Into the Heart of Africa’ perpetuated an atmosphere of racism,” in reconciliation meeting with Coalition For the Truth About Africa, who demonstrated outside the ROM during the exhibition’s run. The CFTA’s spokesperson noted that the reconciliation process began in 2014, and formally accepted the ROM’s apology at the event, which included an opening group prayer performed by a Ghanian priest and “speeches from CFTA members Afua Cooper and Yaw Akyeaw, who flew in from Ghana.” ROM director and CEO Josh Basseches stated that the museum was launching initiatives to improve relations with the African-Canadian community.
Hugely influential singer, songwriter, poet, novelist and artist Leonard Cohen died this week, aged 82. He was born in 1934 in Westmount, Quebec. The news was announced on November 10 by his label, Sony Music Canada, on his official Facebook page. “It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away,” the statement read. “We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries.” Canadian Art reported in March 2016 that the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal is organizing a major exhibition on Cohen’s life, work and influence. “Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything” is due to travel internationally following its premiere in Montreal in fall 2017.
London-based sculptor Anish Kapoor will be creating a large-scale warming hut along Winnipeg’s river trail this winter. Kapoor’s sculpture, Stackhouse, will be an invited work at the Forks, alongside the 2017 Warming Huts Art and Architecture Competition winners, which were announced on Tuesday. Warming huts by Joyce de Grauw and Paul van den Berg of the Netherlands; Team 888 of Chicago; and Lisa Tondino, Alexandra Bolen, Mathew Rodrigues and Drew Klassen of Nova Scotia will also be built along the banks of the Forks’s Red River Mutual skating trail in January.
The Kamloops Art Gallery has appointed Margaret Chrumka as the new executive director, effective November 8. Chrumka has been working at gallery since 2012, when she joined as the manager of operations; she has been fulfilling the role of interim executive director since the passing of Jann L.M. Bailey in October 2015. Chrumka previously worked at the SAGA Public Art Gallery in Salmon Arm, BC, and studied at the University of Victoria and the University of Toronto. She has also served as a member of the Canadian Museum Association’s 2017 and 2018 national conference planning committees.
