In-Dialogue: Balancing Between Indigeneity and Modernity

Performance by Anchi Lin [Ciwas Tahos] and Vava Isingkaunan
Followed by an artist talk with Anchi Lin [Ciwas Tahos] and Richard Hill

Register in-person

Register on Zoom

Join us for a special performance by Anchi Lin [Ciwas Tahos], a Taiwanese Indigenous artist of the Atayal nation, and Vava Isingkaunan, a Taiwanese Indigenous performer of the Bunun nation, followed by an artist talk with Anchi Lin [Ciwas Tahos] and Richard Hill, the Smith Jarislowsky Senior Curator of Canadian Art.

This performance is a response to Guud san glans Robert Davidson: A Line That Bends But Does Not Break, which showcases the perseverance of Indigenous cultures in the face of colonization and cultural suppression. After the performance, Lin will share her journey of reconnecting to her Atayal identity while reflecting on the challenge of preserving cultural worldviews in contemporary times.

This program is in conjunction with Guud san glans Robert Davidson: A Line That Bends But Does Not Break at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Since the 1960s, Guud san glans Robert Davidson has been instrumental in the revival of Haida art and culture and has long been appreciated as one of the most rigorous and inventive artists working in that tradition.

Guud san glans Robert Davidson: A Line That Bends But Does Not Break draws on the Vancouver Art Gallery’s extensive collection of Davidson’s graphic work, supplemented by paintings from local private collections, to show how Davidson’s profound knowledge of Haida art has allowed him to innovate so convincingly.

Traditional Haida art is well known for stylistic conventions that provide a complex and distinctive visual structure to everything it represents. Davidson is so at home within that tradition that he can move effortlessly from more familiar compositions to works in which he singles out and boldly abstracts traditional elements of shape, colour and line. This allows us to consider these elements with exquisite care and see them in new ways. Each work can be considered a masterclass in the Haida language of forms and powerful evidence of the richness, resilience and vitality of Haida culture.

When: Sunday, April 2, 2023 | 2 PM PST | Doors open at 1:30 PM PST
Where: 2nd Floor Exhibition | Vancouver Art Gallery

REGISTRATION

Free for Members or with Admission.

This event will also be presented in Zoom here »

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

 

Anchi Lin [Ciwas Tahos] is a visual artist of Taiwanese Indigenous Atayal (plngawan group) and Hō-ló descent based in Taipei, Taiwan. Following a Bachelor of Fine Art in Visual Art at Simon Fraser University (Canada), Lin is currently undertaking a Master of Fine Art in New Media Art at Taipei National University of the Arts. Through her practice and interest in language, identity, gender and the environment, Lin seeks out new forms of understanding beyond the hetero-patriarchal status quo, using video, performance, cyberspace and sound. Recent significant works include Pswagi Temahahoi as part of the Wagiwagi Project in Documenta 15, Indonesia/Germany (2022), Perhaps She Comes From/To__Alang in Phantasmapolis Asian Art Biennale, Taiwan (2021).

Vava Isingkaunan is Taiwanese Indigenous of the Bunun nation (Takbanuaz group), and a performer. He currently lives in Taoyuan City in Taiwan as an urban Indigenous person. He is studying for a master’s degree in Architectural and Cultural heritage specializing in visual and material culture at the Taipei National University of the Arts.

Richard Hill has worked as a curator, critic and historian of Indigenous and Canadian art for nearly three decades. His Cree heritage and lifelong interest in Indigenous art and questions of transcultural experience are often themes in his research and exhibitions. Previous to his appointment as the Smith Jarislowsky Senior Curator of Canadian Art at the Vancouver Art Gallery, he held a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Studies at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Prior to this, he was Associate Professor at York University teaching courses in art history, curatorial practice and graduate research methods. Hill also worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario, where, with Dr. Anna Hudson, he oversaw the museum’s first substantial efforts to collect Indigenous North American art and display it in the permanent collection galleries.