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LEFT: Tobacco pipe, s’eik
daakeit, in the form of a bird.
Tlingit.
1840–1860.
Promised donation from a private
Montreal collection.
Photo: MOA/Ken Mayer.
LEFT: Bracelet with incised
decoration, xiigaa xahl
k’iidayaa. C. 1890. Haida,
attributed to
Charles Edenshaw
(c. 1839–1920).
Silver.
Promised donation from a private
Montreal collection.
Photo: MOA/Tyler Hagan.
ABOVE: Siberian landscape
with burials.
© V. Terebenin.
RIGHT: Plaque in the form
of a panther. Siberia. 4th–3rd
century BC.
Gold.
Musée de l’Ermitage, Saint-
Pétersbourg. © V. Terebenin.
ABOVE: Charm, héixwaa.
Tlingit. C. 1840–1860.
Bone, leather.
Promised donation from a private
Montreal collection.
Photo: MOA/Ken Mayer.
In a Different Light
VANCOUVER—This inaugural exhibition marks the
opening of a new gallery dedicated to American Indian
and Northwest Coast Indian arts at the Museum of Anthropology
at the University of British Columbia. More
than 110 historically signifi cant and unusually fi ne artworks
are presented in a new way. In a Different Light
also marks the return of a number of objects to British
Columbia which passed from museums into private collections
and away from their communities in
the nineteenth century. A goal of the exhibition
is to restore their history through the
knowledge of artists and First Nation members,
as well as to enable these people to reconnect
with their origins. Transcending notions
of art and craftsmanship, these objects
offer precious insight into the connections
between Native Americans and their lands.
The exhibition sheds light on this culture’s
perception of the world, as well as upon the creativity
and inventiveness that their works display. The show
will be on view until spring 2019.
The new gallery is unusual for its lighting, which varies
according to the time of day. It also employs a variety
of media. The visitor can take a seat and listen
to the storytelling of a Nuxalk sage in an intimate setting
or a slam poetry reading by a Homalco woman.
The gallery was conceived
as an organic environment
that both changes over
time and makes each visit
unique.
The Scythians
LONDON—From September 14, 2017, through January
14, 2018, the British Museum will lift the veil on
the history of the Scythians with Scythians: Warriors
of Ancient Siberia. These feared nomadic and warlike
tribes of the Eurasian steppes prospered between 900
and 200 BC. While they are known to have had contact
with the ancient Greeks, the Assyrians, and the
Persians, virtually all traces of their culture have been
lost. The exhibition presents objects that have been
buried under ice for centuries, maintaining a perfect
state of preservation before being discovered in tumuli
in the high mountains of the Southern Altai in
Siberia. Some of them are more than 2,500 years old.
Two hundred items—weapons, adornments, textiles,
clothing, utensils—document the everyday lives of
this enigmatic culture. The installation demonstrates
that the Scythians practiced the art of tattooing and
many were expert horsemen. Vestiges of tattoos depicting
combat situations involving animals are on
view, and we also learn that Scythians were buried
with their horses, which were believed to help them
reach the next world.
MUSEUM NEWS