In entering the Museum of Anthropology’s Multiversity Gallery, a piece by Heiltsuk artist, ’Nusí, Ian Reid, is displayed prominently as a centerpiece of the hallway. This artwork is called One Mind, One Heart (2012). The focus of the piece is a mask of ’Yágis, an ancestral guardian, holding an oil tanker in his mouth (1). The mask itself is carved out of red cedar, with details added using acrylic paint, horse hair, and metal. ’Yágis reflects the duty the Heiltsuk people feel towards protecting their land and water (1). The piece itself was made as a reaction to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines project. A position made clear by the texts surrounding the mask, as well as two photos of Heiltsuk marching and protesting, united in their opposition towards the project. One of the texts explains the artwork’s name in saying, “As Heiltsuk people, we are of one mind and one heart in opposing [the project] and oil tanker traffic in our territories.”
Within the Multiversity Gallery One Mind, One Heart does stand out a bit, and that may be the intent of the curators. In immediate proximity, specifically right behind the artwork, pieces closer resemble what I would call artifacts rather than art; as at least from a quick glance they all seem to have been made for practical reasons. When I first looked at ’Nusí’s piece I thought it belonged with all these artifacts; until I saw the boat and read the texts I understood the artistic value in it as it brings forward new meanings within the traditional art. Similarly to what Robert Houle refers to as artist-warriors, ’Nusí is taking back his culture’s art to dispute the preconceived ideas people had about what indigenous art really is and means. He breaks the conventional way people view indigenous art as he brings forward a more contemporary meaning. The curation of this piece within the gallery further shows this as this contemporary artwork is amidst the artifacts most people think of when considering indigenous art.
As for myself, being a foreigner to the artist’s culture, I still picked up on the references made towards the disputes over the pipeline, as the issue has often been covered in the news. However the perspective of the indigenous peoples’ was new to me, which the artwork helped to inform me on; additionally the texts, images, and tablet to the side helped a lot to understand the position of the Heiltsuk people. Admittedly, I did not at first have any context for what the mask was depicting and who ’Yágis was, which it assumes you already know. However, although these details are crucial, I still felt as though I had enough information to understand what it was trying to convey.
Works Cited:
(1) Bonar, Thane. “One Mind, One Heart Exhibit at MOA.” Aboriginal Portal, UBC, 2 Jan. 2013, aboriginal.ubc.ca/2013/01/02/one-mind-one-heart-exhibit-at-moa/. Accessed 20 January 2019.