Current Exhibition

TIME WARP
Contemporary Textiles of the Northwest Coast
July 16, 2010 - January 16, 2011


Dress by Lisa Telford: Pocha Haida, 2009. Photo by Kenji Nagai.

Time Warp: Contemporary Textiles of the Northwest Coast, opens to the public at the Bill Reid Gallery, Friday, July 16, 2010. The exhibition celebrates the textile and fibre art of 20 emerging, mid-career and internationally recognized Aboriginal artists from Alaska, Yukon, BC, and Washington State.

Time Warp challenges the stereotype of weaving as “women’s work”, implying “purely decorative” and “meaningless”, and conveys the pivotal role of textiles in contemporary Northwest Coast artistic practice. Co-curated by Dr. Martine Reid, consulting curator, Bill Reid Gallery and Haida Artist and Master Weaver, Evelyn Vanderhoop, the exhibition features works by: Tracy Auchter, Carrie Anne Vanderhoop Bellis, Delores Churchill, Janice Criswell, Sherri Dick, Lisa Hageman, Lani Hotch, Lily Hudson, Shelly Laws, Victoria Moody, Marie Oldfield, Susan Pavel, Clarissa Rizal, Isabel Rorick, Ann Smith, Debra Sparrow, Robyn Sparrow, Lisa Telford, Evelyn Vanderhoop, William White.

Northwest Coast textiles are fundamental to cultural exchange and ceremony. Therefore, the works are displayed on custom-made body forms to show how the pieces were designed to be worn and experienced. Highlights include: Coast Salish weaving, Raven's Tail and Naaxiin style (Chilkat) robes, tunics and capes, as well as cedar bark and spruce root clothing and accessories.

“The art of producing woven textiles and garments is as necessary to the Northwest Coast civilization as that of the wood carver or canoe maker,” explains co-curator Dr. Martine Reid, who originated the exhibition. “Drummers, dancers and leaders clothed in the products of the weavers’ hands boldly pronounce our stories,”said co-curator, Evelyn Vanderhoop. “Textiles are again taking their place in the ever-changing matrix of our evolving culture.”

Friday, July 16, 11:00am-12:30pm, there will be an Artists’ Dialogue led by renowned Haida Master Weaver and recipient of multiple international awards, Delores Churchill of Ketchikan, Alaska. Other programs will be scheduled through fall 2010.

A beautiful 72 page colour catalogue accompanies the exhibition and can be purchased from the Gallery Gift Shop.



Time Warp was made possible by the generous support of: Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver, The Hamber Foundation, 2010 Legacies Now, The Vancouver Foundation, Face the World Foundation, US Consulate General, Vancouver and Scriba International Art Society.