John Marston has since the beginning of his career exhibited next to Sepik artists at Alcheringa Gallery. John’s explorations of his own rich artistic and cultural heritage paralleled a growing fascination with the tools, techniques, styles, materials, knowledge, stories, beliefs, and lifestyles of these carvers on the other side of the world. In 2006, he travelled with our gallery crew to meet them.

Like John, Teddy Balangu is part of a large family of artists, and is recognized both by his people- the Iatmul of the Sepik River- and by the international community for his knowledge and skills. Teddy is one of the few Iatmul to represent themselves abroad, having been chosen by his clan to participate in the creation of the New Guinea Sculpture Garden at Stanford University in 1995. He facilitated John’s introduction to the Sepik. Later that year, he came to Vancouver to carve a pole representing stories of his clan for a new collection of contemporary Sepik art at the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology.

Killerwhale and Crocodile records the experiences and reflections of these men. It provides unique perspectives on the relevance of traditional artistry in an increasingly globalized world; on the benefits and challenges of cross-cultural dialogue; on what it means to be a contemporary indigenous artist. For further context, Carol Mayer of UBC’s Museum of Anthropology and Elaine Monds of Alcheringa Gallery discuss changing attitudes towards aboriginal artists in both the museum field and the art market. The film is also very beautiful, with locations ranging from flooded hardwood jungle to old-growth spruce forest, from a thirty-man carving session in a haus tambaran (spirit house) to a Coast Salish welcome ceremony in a longhouse. Drawing it all together, of course, is a lot of spectacular art.

-Dan Lepsoe, Alcheringa Gallery
 

*Price is for home viewing only. For an institutional license, contact Moving Images Distribution.

Categories: Wood Sculpture
Tags: Coast Salish, community, cultural exchange, film, friendship, identity, land, mass media, museums, mythology, natural materials, Sepik River, shared memory, teaching, Wood Sculpture