“The Answers Are In the Old Pieces” – James Hart

In celebration of Museum Week 2016 (#MuseumWeek), I thought I would share with you my recent visit to the stunning new Audain Art Museum in Whistler, British Columbia. Nestled in amongst soaring trees at the base of Whistler-Blackomb’s highest peaks, the Audain Art Museum provides a welcome, provocative cultural experience that leaves you feeling that you better understand the landscape, history and people of this gorgeous province.

Thanks to Vancouver art collectors and philanthropists Michael Audain and his wife Yoshi Karasawa, Whistler is now home to an exquisite mix of their carefully curated artworks that celebrate BC’s art-making past, and present. Quietly lit, open rooms house some of the Northwest Coast’s oldest First Nation’s masks and carvings, a large collection of one of BC’s, and Canada’s, most important painters Emily Carr, as well as contemporary photography from the likes of Jeff Wall and Stan Douglas. Each of these stunning pieces is surrounded by a thoughtfully planned building, designed by architects John and Patricia Patkau, that manages to balance carefully lit interior gallery rooms with large, open spaces made of wood and glass that bring the outside in, celebrating Whistler’s stunning natural surroundings. After spending a hectic day on the mountain enjoying the Peak to Peak Gondola and the charming busyness of the village, I walked into the lobby of the Audain and immediately felt at peace in a calming setting that allows you to soak in each piece of artwork reflectively.

Today I thought I would share with you one of the first pieces that welcomes you as you enter the museum. It is James Hart’s The Dance Screen, which you see in my photo above. The Dance Screen takes up all of one wall and draws you in with its intricate detailed carving. Hart, born in the Delkatla community of Masset, Haida Gwaii, learned to carve from the likes of Robert Davidson and Bill Reid, before undertaking his own work which includes the recently carved Dance Screen which took three years to complete! Strongly linked to the Haida tradition, you can see in this screen many animals represented including a great mother bear, killer whales, frogs, bear cubs in the form of humans, eagle, raven, beaver, and salmon. You can also see a central shaman figure which can be removed , opening a door that allows dancers to pass from behind the wall, representing the spirit world, to the front of the wall, representing our world as it is today. Every creature in the ecosystem carved on the screen relies directly on the encircling salmon for survival, and so this piece is a reminder to all of us to protect the natural world around us as it supports and sustains us, now and into the future. In this way, James Hart’s quote is also a reminder to us to listen and learn from our history and our elders as we rush into the future: “I tell younger people all the answers are in the old pieces.”

Perhaps this is why museums are such a treasure for us in this busy world we live in. They give us a break from our over-scheduled lives and ask us to quiet our minds and learn from the past to help us better understand and appreciate our present. This was just the spiritual break I needed on a wonderful Saturday in Whistler.

I would like to take a moment to thank the Audain Art Museum for running a fun contest for its recent opening. It was simple. Upon experiencing the museum, they asked attendees to tweet what they love about it using the hashtag #AudainLove. I did not find this difficult (!) and was one of the lucky winners of a year’s membership as well as two of the Audain’s  stunning new books in support of the museum, Masterworks from the Audain Art Museum and “Mexican Modernists.” What did I tweet?

“Stunning location, beautifully curated collection of the beating heart of BC past and present.”

To learn more about the Audain Art Museum, please visit their website as well as this excellent piece by The National Gallery of Canada. And then turn off your device and come out here to visit me in BC. I’ll take you to the museum so you can experience it for yourself! It is heavenly and earthly all at once.