There is a new art exhibit that focuses on Nootka (Yuquot, a.k.a. Friendly Cove) as seen through the eyes of various artists.
The Point of Contact exhibition opened at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria on Oct. 28. The exhibition features a collection of imagery, sculpture and crafts themed around Nootka, the site of first contact on the West Coast between indigenous and non-indigenous people in the 1770s.
Curator Haema Sivansesan said the idea was to focus on the place, the values and beliefs of the people that have been there.
Nootka is the home of the Mowachaht people who call their home Yuquot. It is believed that explorers misnamed the place, and, eventually, the people from there and all Nuu-chah-nulth-aht became known as Nootka.
From 1779 to 1979 the indigenous people living on the west coast of Vancouver Island were known in the history books as Nootka. They eventually renamed themselves Nuu-chah-nulth, meaning ‘all along the mountains’; a reference to the homelands of member tribes that make up Nuu-chah-nulth.
Sivansesan notes that the misnomer ‘Nootka’ still appears in many modern day references. ****
“Cultural values and beliefs can shape a place and even though we look at the history and we understand the explanations, the misunderstanding about the name Nootka continues to be perpetuated,” said Sivansesan.
The Point of Contact exhibition takes the site of Nootka as a case study to consider how artists have contributed to shaping the idea of place on the West Coast.
Sivansesan says the exhibit came together starting with pieces the AGGV has in their collection. “We have the Cook engravings as well as a number of prints,” said Sivansesan.
Nuu-chah-nulth artists are represented in the exhibit. There are prints by Tim Paul, Patrick Amos, and Art Thompson.
The focal piece of the exhibit is a longhouse replica made by Tla-o-qui-aht artist Hjalmer Wenstob, who said he created the piece back when he did his master of art degree thesis. Inside the longhouse is a projection show of scenes from Nootka over the years.
“We wanted this piece as a strong anchor for indigenous voices, to help contextualize all the other work,” said Sivansesan. She noted the history of the Nootka Crisis, when the Spaniards and British disputed claims over the place and it seemed there was an absence of indigenous voices.
The gallery walls are lined with works by indigenous and non-indigenous artists including Patrick Amos, Emily Carr, Stan Douglas, Jock Macdonald, Tim Paul, Takao Tanabe, Art Thompson, John Webber and Hjalmer Wenstob.
The exhibit runs from October 28, 2017 – April 1, 2018 at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Regular admission is $12 for each adult; however, Nuu-chah-nulth people with status cards may enter free-of-charge.
