October went by too quickly! It ended up being a fairly busy month for me with a couple of articles due and a mid-month trip to Vancouver.
In Vancouver, despite braving the remnants of Typhoon Songda (!) that left thousands of people without power, I was still able to meet up with various antique-collector friends, enjoy nice meals and visit the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. I even managed to watch the Toronto Blue Jays vs Cleveland Indians playoff series!
Known for its vast collection of First Nations, North West Coast and Inuit Art, The Museum of Anthropology is also one of the few institutions in British Columbia that has an actual Asian Art gallery. Their Asian section is well-organised and quite unique - the focus is more on the history of civilizations through art objects for utilitarian, folk, religious, royal and mercantile purposes. It is simply not the most impressive or expensive items that are on display.
Some of the items that really appealed to me were the vast selection of folk masks from Korea. These are rarely on view in other museums, but were an important part of Korean urban and rural culture. Each mask portrays a distinctive character and were made from a combination of wood and papier-mâché.
I have included a photo of the museum’s Chinese porcelain as well. Though modest, they do have some top pieces in there. It might be difficult to see the details from the photo, but I’ll give you a hint – they are with the monochromes and the blue and whites.
Finally I leave you with a photo from the Portuguese folk art section where we see two VERY different interpretations of the Last Supper. Enjoy!
