Curator & Collector

Tom Thomson Pine Island image taken from the McMichael Collection I just finished a most fascinating account of the controversy over the McMichael Collection (“Case Notes: One Premier’s Obsession? The McMichael Legislation in Ontario,” by Kenneth R. Cavalier in International Journal of Cultural Property 11:1 (2002) pp. 65–79). The McMichael Collection began as a gift [...]

Detail of promotional poster for www.theravenscall.ca Yesterday I attended at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art the unveiling, as it were, of a new website produced by the Bill Reid Foundation: the Raven’s Call. The website has over 200 photographs, many of them of Reid’s artworks, many of which are not owned by [...]

Rotunda of the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, BC During the recent 2010 “Winter”* Olympics, the Vancouver Art Gallery was open for free to the public; my wife and I saved ourselves about $37 by visiting the VAG, which also housed the BC Pavilion, at this time. The VAG has a no photographs policy, but [...]

Image of loonie with “notankers” sticker applied taken from the Dogwood Initiative The Georgia Straight, the CBC, and other local BC newspapers are reporting on a recent numismatic imbroglio involving an environmental group called the Dogwood Initiative and the Royal Canadian Mint. Essentially, the Dogwood Initiative is selling stickers that can be applied to loonies, [...]

Despite my intention, stated only two posts ago, to resume blogging about museums and numismatics, I feel I cannot quite get there before writing down a few thoughts on the recent election of the Conservative Party as a strengthened minority party. Some in the news media are blaming the fact that the Tories let a [...]

It is with pleasure that I note that Macleans has won the infamous Mark Steyn lawsuit before the BC Human Rights Tribunal. I still think that, despite a long and thoughtful email from the Attorney-General (to which I shall be replying), this case should never have been brought before this forum. And now, back to [...]

Image of recovered Bill Reid artwork from the CBC I just discovered that I missed an important story last month: the last two Bill Reid artworks that were stolen from the Museum of Anthropology some months ago have been found. Notwithstanding the damage to one of the pieces (an argelite carving), it’s wonderful that all [...]

Photograph of British Museum acquisition astrolabe taken from the BBC “He had an astrolabe to match his art / And calculating counters laid apart / On handy shelves that stood above his bed”–Chaucer’s words, taken from our favourite Canterbury Tale, “The Miller’s Tale,” refer to an instrument that has been described, according to the BBC, [...]

Image of stolen Bill Reid gold artwork taken from the CBC UPDATE: All but two of the stolen Bill Reid pieces have been found. CBC and other media outlets are reporting that some of the stolen Bill Reid artefacts have just been recovered from the Vancouver suburb of Burnbaby. Police aren’t saying just yet which [...]

Note: today’s post is related primarily to the Law, but it does have ramifications for arts and culture, too. I post it here because I view it as the most important issue of the day. [crossposted from another blog of mine] Today is the final day of the hearing in my province, BC, at which [...]