Haida Manga has :

-being nominated for the Kiriyama Book Prize (work relevant to the Pacific ) (spring 2003)
-received a two page (plus front page of Arts section) coverage in western Canada largest daily newspaper (fall 2003)
-will be published in Washington DC in a new weekly newspaper (summer 2004)
-has shown in Tokyo (oct 2003) and was selected as the seventh best exhibit (out of 100 exhibits from 36 countries) at the 2nd largest design fair in the world.
-has shown in Vancouver (Dec 2003)
-will show in London England (Sept 2004)
-been reviewed in the foremost US industry journal- The Comics Journal (2003)
-has been reviewed in Canada’s THIS magazine (2003)
-has been broadcast on National Canadian radio -three separate shows (one 25 minute interview and two Arts reports)

Haida Manga is:
-a new genre of manga
-based on traditional Haida (Indigenous Peoples) “parables” or narratives
-uses traditional iconography (design/art)
-blends with contemporary comic book technique
-an introduction to Haida world views in a highly accessible format
-currently being translated into Japanese
-currently being considered for publication in Korea
-in the collections of the Kawasaki Manga Museum, and the Museum of Anthropology (Vancouver Canada)
-currently published by the Haida Gwaii Museum
-currently published by THEYTUS BOOKS (Canada’s oldest Indigenous publishing house)
-currently published by the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (2003)
-currently published by the Native Youth Movement’s REDWIRE Magazine (2003) and pending 2004
-currently televised on Aboriginal peoples Television Network (The Creative Native)

A Lousy Tale-

A 15 page episode from the Raven Traveling story is complete. This one has a page I am particularly happy with. It has the same high low perspective as the last page in A TALE OF TWO SHAMANS. The story concerns a fishing trip that raven takes with his brother in law- Cormie, a louse and a canoe load of halibut. We haven’t yet decided where this story will appear first but discussions include publishing a limited edition run of all new Rockingraven stories and making them available only through this web site.

Production rates remain high and I’m beginning another episode.

thnx for dropping by.

Washington DC will soon be sporting a new weekly newspaper and they will be publishing Rocking Raven in a serialized format.

Also CRANK magazine (vancouver) has just published part one of Rocking Raven “Goes Fishing”. This is the piece that was displayed at the Tokyo design Week (Oct 2003) and will be shown in Toronto (June 2004) and in London (September 2004).

The Street (Vancouver) has just concluded Rocking Raven “Strong Silent Type”. We have entered into negotiations on another series with multiple pages in each of their issues (bi weekly).

The next Rocking Raven story, “A Lousy Tale” is 15 pages and now completed. “War of the Blink” is also fully pencilled out.

over 700 vancouver designers and fans attended our reception last week. The RAW POTENTIAL show opened december 12.
A great beginning for VANCOUVER DESIGNERS WEEKEND

Mirella and her Mom postponed bedtime and came to the party.

mirella gave me a big kiss right on my nose! Now that’s the highlight of the night!
At 11 months old she loves the crowd- dancing in my arms to the improv tunes by the three piece band, craning her neck and looking everywhere, smiling, fully engaged her bright eyes under her haida hat.

first Khan a master of light designs played a metal conduit as a flute and
then I sang a song- gave a boosty speech about the show doing Japan, Vancouver, off to Toronto and London (this after 2 days of facilitating meetings!)

BARK officials greeted the swelling crowds announcing that to a chest thumping crowd that Vancouver design was rocking up and out onto an international stage.

then
Ocean,
the duct taped dancer provided an interesting touch caused a little electricity as she ended her performance by slipping her scissors deep into the waist band of her duct tape briefs.

later as the bottled water and wine flowed and the crowds of designers- crowds! milling, laughing, meeting filled the 5000 sq ft space with room to move but watch the elbows!

it was either the CHUM TV, CITY TV crew that stayed late for footage lurching through the crowd.

and
then
two hot stones
granite slow baked in a glass kiln and carried in through the crowds on planks.

asiago cheese, olives and apples sliced and sprinkled on stone and then the aroma bubbles up excited flocks of people descend with swabs of crusty bread carrying away the treats in their beaks like the mighty gull

great layout!

a gutted bldg in Gastown now transformed into a dynamic space with design pieces, lights and sound.

Haida manga had a great location along 24 ft wall by the bar- prime location and some seriously engaged crowds.

Vancouver Designers Weekend

Tomorrow both myself and up and coming animation talent Chris Auchter (a haida atist from Skidegate) will be interviewed separately for Arts Zone. The target audience are children interested in art and the show is produced by Force Four Productions. I will be demonstrating my approach to drawing Haida manga and giving you a peep at the WAR of the BLINK which is now only 6 pages short of a completed pencil work.

Chris will be showing some of this flash animation. His work is already shown on Aboriginal peoples television for the last two years on Wakanheja. He has just completed a lovely bright piece that will be used on Arts Zone.

I’ll let you know when and where these particular shows can be seen.

For fans of that rare creature called great television the President of Force Four, Hugh Beard was involved in producing one of the industry’s best ever television shows Cariboo Country (1957-1969)

NEWS RELEASE

Canadian design flaunts its ‘Raw Potential’
at exhibit in abandoned Gastown building

For immediate release Thursday, December 11, 2003

VANCOUVER, BC – A jet-setting exhibit of Canadian design that picked up kudos during its debut at the Tokyo Designers’ Block in October will be touching down in Vancouver from December 11 to 14 as part of its global tour. “Raw Potential: Design from Canada” will be flaunting the best of Canadian design in an edgy and offbeat exhibit in an abandon building at 44 Water Street in Gastown. The exhibit is headed to design shows in Toronto and London, England, in the new year.

“We want to break the stereotype that design is elitist by showcasing some of Canada’s best designers in an unorthodox, raw setting,” says Rob Studer, a member of the Vancouver-based BARK Design Collective, which is organizing the exhibit. “We picked a derelict building in the heart of Gastown to bring this high-calibre, international exhibit down to earth, to make it accessible to everyone in the city.”

“Raw Potential” is one of the largest exhibits of Canadian design to be showcased in Vancouver in recent years. An opening reception and party to celebrate the exhibit’s Tokyo success will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, December 11 at 44 Water Street.

The provocative exhibition of architecture, illustration and graphics, furniture, textiles, jewellery, media arts, fashion and product design opened at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo on October 9 as part of the Tokyo Designers’ Block. The exhibit features 35 works, from 26 internationally established and emerging designers, representing design from corporate to street culture, from landed immigrants to indigenous peoples, from the conceptual to tangible.

Casa Brutus, the leading Japanese design magazine, rated the exhibit in the top ten at number seven out of some 100 exhibits during the Tokyo Designers’ Week and Designers’ Block. “QUOTE MAGAZINE”

The exhibition showcases both conventional and iconoclastic design that challenges stereotypes of Canada. Haida Manga, for instance, is the ancient saga of Raven Travelling illustrated in Japanese comic book format or “manga” casting the lewd Trickster-Creator in fishnet stockings. “Aboriginal design is not some artefact buttressing the Canadian myth,” says Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, a Haida illustrator. “I want to reshape the elevated and sacred Haida iconography into a rudely familiar image, one that is relevant and accessible to all, even to the Japanese.”

Other offbeat designs include a white “one-piece” felt suit by Vancouver fashion designer Natalie Purschwitz, architectural renderings of an “extreme” museum perched precariously at the top of a rocky mountain by Cynthia Wilson and Oliver Lang, and a “Grow-Op” coffee table to green the interior of your cramped, downtown condo by Mark Brady.

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“Canada is the Petri dish of human culture. We are an experiment in identity, where cultures from all over the world are grafted together, where social conventions about marriage and drugs are being radically reshaped, where creativity is unhindered by history,” says Beth Hawthorne, a member of the Vancouver-based BARK Design Collective. “Yet our international image is strikingly out of sync. Canadians are seen as a painfully polite, terribly dull bunch whose greatest contributions to humanity are maple syrup, smoked salmon and log cabins.”

“There is huge potential for the creative design industries to reshape Canada’s brand image,” adds Studer. “We wanted to capture the spirit of the ‘New Canada’ through conceptual design and consumer products, to provoke entirely new perceptions of our country as urban, youthful, eclectic and outrageously entrepreneurial.”

Curated by the BARK, the exhibition is based on a nation-wide call for design submissions, which display unapologetic qualities of a newfangled Canadian brand. Its intention is to expand the world’s perception of Canada as a place where there are world-class designers conceiving progressive design solutions through edgy aesthetics, novel functionality and material innovation.

BARK* Design Collective was founded in 2003 by six Vancouver designers who recognized a lack of support, identity and dialogue in the West Coast contemporary design scene. BARK’s mandate is to heighten the profile of Canadian design and highlight provocative design concepts resulting from the exploration of unique materials, forms and cultures. BARK actively engages the public through local and international exhibitions, as well as an upcoming lecture series on desing. BARKS includes Robert Studer and Beth Hawthorn of ‘this is it design Inc., Christian Blyt and Marja Koskela of Up and Down Productions, furniture designer Steve Suchy and Victor Chan of c-design studio.

MEDIA EVENT

WHAT: Opening Party and Reception
DATE: Thursday, December 11, 2003
TIME: 7 p.m.
PLACE: 44 Water Street, Vancouver

For more information contact or to schedule special photo sessions contact:
Rob Studer or Beth Hawthorn of this is it design at info@barkbark.ca 604-682-8447

What is truly worthwhile may not have anything to do with us

The Street Newspaper in Vancouver Canada is printing a serialized Rocking Raven story- “The Strong Silent Type”

In early 2004 that story will be available to other newspapers sold on streets throughout North America by marginalized and homeless people-

University of Toronto’s Semiotics Student Association has selected Rocking Raven as a cool site!
Visit other cool sites they are promoting.

Here are the projects currently alive and well at Rocking Raven Studios.

1- The War of the Blink-

A 48 page black ink narrative account of a pre Canada battle. Haida iconography provides a matrix for this true story. Potent layout approach make this work a remarkable display of Haida and manga techniques. Remaining work=45 days

2- The Carpenters Fin-

A full watercolor story that merges a personal experience at Xaanghiit Gwaii on the southern most tip of Haida Gwaii with an ancient tale. This story includes the Wasco, creation of various small Whales, violence, revenge and humiliation. A classic Haida tale . To date all pages are worked up to second stage with layout, color sense and draft text. Remaining work=180 days.

3- The Code-

A story based on the workings of the Haida Gwaii Watch (HGW) beginning with a speedboat trip along the east coast. Mysterious messages in an archaic code convince the HGW to attempt to open up the fortress of Skungwaii. They must first deal with a guardian and security system that could destroy them. Chapter one is 28 pages. Black ink, standard rectangular layout and original art on 8.5 X 11 inches panels. This story will be familiar to any visitors who have travelled into Gwaiihaanas National Park reserve on Haida Gwaii. Remaining work=10 days.

4-Ranger Ricky’s guide to Haidas-

Somewhat tongue in cheek. Do you want to know how to make paralytic shellfish posioning sauce, build your own copy of a Haida fetish chair or learn about the connection between land otters and pesonal tolietary habits. Recipes for the seafood lover and personal survivial tips that you won’t forget…ever. Originally worked up during shifts as a member of the HGW on Skungwaii this work was designed as an entertaining educational appendix to the Haida Gwaii Watchman’s manual. Two colour and at draft stage probably 48 pages.
Remaining work= 40 days