Hummingbird: July 30 (so soon!) at about 21:00~21:30

Vancouver Calling (Special programme): August 5 19:00~20:00

Tokyo FM: http://www.tfm.co.jp

“Stolen but Recovered” is one of the two shields on exhibit in Vancouver through to december.

photo: Alex Waterhouse Hayward

“Coppers from the Hood” one of the three installation pieces at the Museum of Anthropology (University of British Columbia)

“Coppers from the Hood” one of the three installation pieces at the Museum of Anthropology (University of British Columbia)

If you made it to the opening party tuesday evening you know that the air was warm, the music very very cool and the root beer frosty. All was as it should be.

I am particularly impressed with the music. Kudos to the solid voice talents of Sister Sez Gillian Thomson along with Robert Thomson, Jamie Thomson ( http://www.intellifunk.com/) the Culturally Modified who were joined by Greg Coyes, and a spectacular trio of haida sisters the Bird Sisters.

All this along with sunset over the Salish Sea and it was as good as it ever gets.

You may not know that this was the single largest ever crowd at an exhibit opening at Vancouver’s second largest art gallery.

I am delighted to see how quickly and fully people are responding to the pieces in the exhibit. The Bone Box is spinning furiously. A hundred fingerprints are tracing the Pedal to the Meddle and Coppers from the Hood stare down the great Canadian land claim. It seems true as said during the opening addresses, that we really do want to become more than observers in our own life.

Pictures of the pieces will be posted soon thanks to the impressive talents of Alex Waterhouse Hayward http://alexwaterhousehayward.com/

mny

June 25, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UBC Museum of Anthropology Announces

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas –
Meddling in the Museum

July 10, 2007 – December 31, 2007
__________________________________________________________________________
Opening Reception Tuesday, July 10, 2007, 7:00 pm (free; everyone welcome)

Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas mixes it up at MOA with three site-specific installations inspired by the Museum’s current Renewal Project. Michael’s new works incorporate media as diverse as a stolen-but-recovered car hoods and copper leaf (Coppers from the Hood), argillite dust and an entire canoe-bearing Pontiac Firefly (Pedal to the Meddle), and an interactive Haida manga mural using abandoned archaeology storage trays (Bone Box). In the process, he brings his own brand of humour, narrative, and social commentary to jumpstart new debates in the Museum’s changing spaces.

The July 10 opening will take place “tailgate style” on the Museum grounds, with a picnic and music by THREE fantastic local bands – The Byrd Sisters, Jamie Thomson and the Culturally Modified, and Sister Says.

The Byrd Sisters are three Haida women who, like their bird-relatives, share a love of singing and drumming. The Byrd Sisters are Itlqujatqut’aas, Lori Davis (Dadens Ravens, yahgu janaas), Guulangwas, Jacqueline Hans (Skidegate Eagles, Gidins, Naa-Ewans Xyadaga), and Gid7ahl-gudsllay, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson (Skedans Ravens, gak’yaals kiigawaay).

Thomson’s band, composed of Jamie Thomson (guitar, vocals), Brent Shindell (guitar), Robert Thomson (bass), and Trevor Ainsworth (drums, percussion) plays original electric and acoustic music that reflects upon life and world issues (www.intellifunk.com). Sister Says brings together Gillian Thomson (vocals), Robert Thomson (bass), Trevor Ainsworth (drums/percussion), and Jeff Younger (guitar) for sets that range from experimental rock-jazz and alternative soul to classical (www.myspace.com/sistersays).

Installations curated by Karen Duffek, Curator, Contemporary Visual Arts. Thanks to Canada Council for the Arts for their support of this project.

Artist Profile
Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas was raised in Delkatla on Haida Gwaii. He is a political “Arrrtist,” and has worked professionally seeking solutions to jurisdictional disputes between colonial and indigenous governments both here in Canada and abroad. His artworks have been shown in Japan, Korea, England and, most recently, as part of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s exhibition Raven Travelling. As well, he is author of A Tale of Two Shamans and The Last Voyage of the Black Ship (www.mny.ca). His illustrated book, Hachidori, now in its third printing, sold 100,000 copies in Japan.

Contact
For images or to arrange interviews, please contact Jennifer Webb, Communications Manager
UBC Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
604.822.5950 jenwebb@interchange.ubc.ca www.moa.ubc.ca