University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, British Columbia
From Archiplanet
| University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology | |
| Designer | Arthur C. Erickson |
| Location | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Date | 1971 to 1974 |
| Building Type | Museum |
| Construction System | concrete, glass, steel |
| Climate | Mild Temperate |
| Context | Campus Context |
| Architectural Style | Modern |
| Street Address | 6393 Northwest Marine Drive |
| Notes |
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| Building Details | |
| Client | University of British Columbia |
| Stories | 1 |
[edit] Museum of Anthropology at Wikipedia
Museum of Anthropology at UBC
The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is one of the foremost museums of Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations culture. The Canadian Encyclopedia As well as being a major tourist destination, MOA is also a teaching museum, used in a number of courses at UBC, and a research museum.
Location
The Museum is located at 6393 Northwest Marine Drive, on the campus of the University of British Columbia. The Museum and UBC lie within the University Endowment Lands, which are not officially part of the City of Vancouver.
History
The Museum was founded in 1947 when the various items in UBC's ethnographic collection were put on display in the basement of the Main Library. Dr. Harry Hawthorn served as the first director of the new Museum, with his wife, Dr. Audrey Hawthorn, serving as its first curator.
In 1971 the Museum received funds from the Government of Canada and UBC to begin construction of a new building. In 1976, the new building, designed by renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, opened under new director Michael Ames, who served from 1974 to 1997. Walter and Marianne Koerner's 1975 donation of their extensive collection of Northwest Coast First Nations art to the Museum formed a large part of the new building's contents.
In 1997 Dr. Ruth Phillips became museum director. In 2002 Dr. Michael Ames returned as acting director. Dr. Anthony Shelton became director in 2004.
The building
Arthur Erickson's building was inspired by the post-and-beam architecture of northern Northwest Coast First Nations people. Like much of Erickson's work, the building is made primarily out of concrete.
Highlights
The most iconic object in the Museum is probably the yellow cedar sculpture The Raven and the First Men by Bill Reid, which is depicted on the Canadian twenty-dollar bill.
Other notable Bill Reid works include his Bear and Wasco sculptures, some of his gold jewellery, and a prototype of the Haida dugout canoe he carved for Expo 86.
The Museum contains several large Musqueam artifacts from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Museum's Great Hall contains many fragments of totem poles from Haida and other First Nations villages abandoned in the late nineteenth century due to disease brought by European traders.
The Museum has an extensive collection from the South Pacific.
Textiles: There are about 6,000 textiles in the collection; about half of these come from Asia. Of particular note are the Cantonese Opera costumes that are considered some of the world's finest. There are also have excellent holdings from the Northwest Coast, Oceania, Africa, and South America.
Historic Photography: The MOA Archive contains approximately 90,000 photographs that cover a wide range of cultures, ethnographic subjects and historical events. The collection dates from the 1890s and is an important resource for researchers, writers and communities.
Africa: There are approximately 2,800 objects in the African collection. The earlier collections came to MOA via missionaries, travelers, and ex-colonial officers. The collection includes masks, Yoruba thorn carvings, over 100 Makonde figures from Tanzania, approximately 100 Asante Gold weights, weaponry from South Africa and ca. 100 morturary objects from Egypt.
Asia (China, Japan, Korea, India): About 40% of MOA's collection is from Asia. The Chinese collections include between 1,000 - 1,500 pieces of Chinese ceramics, Chinese calligraphy and paintings (with four recently identified masterpieces from the collection of Ho Ping-ti). In addition, there is a large collection of Japanese prints, Buddhist art, Hindu art (including Gandhara sculpture), textiles and clothing, and Indian Calendar prints. Other collections include 2,300 Chinese coins and amulets, 200 Sichaun blue thread embroideries dating to circa 1900, rare Tibetan robes, and masks from Noe (Japan), Sunni and Kolam (Sri Lanka), and Pongsan and Yangju (Korea).
The Haida houses outside the Museum were built by Bill Reid, who also carved, along with Douglas Cranmer, most of the totem poles surrounding them. The original Reid/Cranmer totem pole mounted on the front of the big house was taken inside in 2000 due to deterioration and replaced with the new "Respect to Bill Reid Pole" by Haida artist Jim Hart.
The renewal project
In 2006, the Museum launched a multi-million dollar project to create new research wing for the Museum, as well as new offices, laboratories, a culturally sensitive research room, recording studio, and new, exhibition gallery. Other enhancements include a relocated and expanded Museum Shop, year-round cafe, and courtyard suitable for facility rentals. The project will be completed in 2009.
MOA is currently engaged in a $55.5 million expansion and renewal project called 'A Partnership of Peoples.' (For details, see www.moa.ubc.ca/renewal.) By project completion in January 2010, they will have dramatically redesigned their Visible Storage Galleries (renamed the Multiversity Galleries) and created a digital network (the Reciprocal Research Network) linking Northwest Coast collections in institutions worldwide. Also envisioned are exciting new exhibit galleries, visitor amenities, and state-of-the-art education and public programming spaces.
The Collections
This museum includes a number of large sculptures, totem poles and cultural artifacts. Although the Museum's focus is on the First Nations of the Northwest Coast, the collection of 35,000 ethnological objects includes objects from all continents. These are mostly located in the visible storage section of the Museum, a gallery where objects that would normally be stored behind the scenes are made accessible to the public. The collections include contemporary works as well as historical objects. In addition to the ethnographic collections, MOA houses an archaeological collection of approximately 525,000 pieces. These are managed by UBC's Laboratory of Archaeology. the museum also has a small wing dedicated primarily to European ceramic art works collected by the late Walter Koerner. The Koerner Ceramics Gallery, which opened in 1990, contains over 600 European ceramics collected by Koerner, which he donated to the Museum in 1987.
External links
Affiliations
The Museum is affiliated with:
References
de:Museum of Anthropology fr:Museum of Anthropology pt:Museu de Antropologia (Vancouver)
