2012 News and Events
Aboriginal Laughs
12 September 2012
Reg Davidson's mask, Mercedes, was worn for a funny skit at the opening of Carrying on "Irregardless": Humour in Contemporary Northwest Coast Art, September 12, 2012 to March 17, 2013.
The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in Vancouver is looking for laughs at its new exhibit, Carrying on “Irregardless”: Humour in Contemporary Northwest Coast Art, which opened on September 12 and will run through March 17, 2013.
Co-curated by Tahltan artist, stand-up comedian and curator Peter Morin and the gallery’s director of content and research, Dr. Martine Reid, the exhibition reflects the sense of playful humor so often displayed at First Nations social gatherings.
The U.S. Consulate General Vancouver is proud to sponsor two Native American artists who will lead a series of public programs in association with the exhibit.
Victor Masayesva Jr. of the Hopi Tribe will speak November 15 at 6 p.m. at the Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre on Clowning and Humor in Traditional Storytelling. Masayesva, a photographer and videomaker, created the film Ritual Clowns, in which he examines clown figures in Native American ritual ceremonies. He will be joined by Haida Manga artist, cartoonist and political activist Michael Nicoll Yaguhlanaas.
The 1491s, a sketch comedy group “based in the wooded ghettos of Minnesota and buffalo grass of Oklahoma,” will perform February 21, 2013 at 6 p.m. at the Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre. The group, who call themselves “a gaggle of Indians chock full of cynicism and splashed with a good dose of indigenous satire,” create short films that mock Native American stereotypes and post them on social networks.