Arts and crafts – 1

Lest I should leave the gentle reader with the impression that all of our time here on the west coast of Canada is currently taken up with explorations into hardwood flooring (well – some of it is!) or trying to find the perfect bathtub…

…actually, I must needs digress at this point. What springs to mind when one thinks of the normal Canadian chap (settle down at the back there!)? Yes – that’s right – a tall, swarthy outdoor type who climbs mountains for fun, drives around in a huge pickup, hunts wild animals and skates and rows and skis, etc, etc.

So – what sort of bathtub might you expect such a specimen to require? Yes – so did I, but the standard Canadian bathtub is a mere five foot long and no more than about twelve inches deep! Scarcely enough to dampen one’s… well – you get the idea. Should you require the sort of soaker that we Brits demand – at least five foot five (if not six foot) long and a good twenty two inches deep – then one is looking at a special order. Weird – huh?

Where was I?

Ah yes – culture!

I thought I would regale you with some of the cultural and artistic events that we have attending since landing in BC. Victoria is a really buzzing place and there is a pretty constant schedule of interesting stuff with which to get involved. Should the island not provide enough stimulation on its own it is but a hop and a step to either Vancouver or Seattle.

Anyway – this is what we have been up to:

On the first day of our trip to the interior we stopped in Vancouver, partly to conduct some business but also to visit the Bill Reid Gallery. For those who know nothing about this seminal figure of west coast First Nations art I commend to you the ‘About Bill Reid’ section of the above site. Should you further wish to see an example of Bill Reid’s exquisite sculpture then you need look no further than the facsimile of ‘The Raven and the First Men’ that you will find the top of this post.

The current exhibition at the Bill Reid Gallery – ‘The Box of Treasures’ – features amongst other wonders the extraordinary masks of Beau Dick – whom I have eulogised before in this post entitled ‘A sense of place’.

I most strongly recommend both artists to you – as I do the gallery, should you find yourself in Vancouver.

Much of our cultural month – however – has been given over to the arts dramatic. More – much more – of that in part two of this post.