Alcheringa Gallery
665 Fort Street
Victoria, BC, Canada
TEL: (250) 383-8224
FAX: (250) 383-9399
email alcheringa
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INTRODUCTION BY DR. CAROL MAYER ·
VIDEO, PHOTOS, INFO ·
IMAGE INDEX
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| VIDEO | BACKGROUND | 
Palembei welcomes John Marston & company. | Our visit to the Sepik River this spring was unique in many respects. Floating in and out of villages, our dugout held not only a First Nations artist, a museum curator, and two filmmakers in addition to our usual crew, but also we entered a scene of which I had never seen the like in eleven previous trips. I have visited before when floodwaters were high, but this time it was as if the river was merely punctuated by groups of trees and clusters of houses: the familiar landmarks that announced the identity of each village were submerged or washed away. The villages and the river had become a single entity. I was only entirely sure of our whereabouts when I recognized the smiling faces of the master carvers who for so long have been our friends.
Filmmakers Peter Campbell and Art Holbrook followed us as we met with artists along the river. Killerwhale and Crocodile, to be aired on Bravo! Canada in 2007, will explore the work of the gallery and will document the meeting and interaction of John Marston and Teddy Balangu on both sides of the Pacific.
The primary focus of our stay on the Sepik this time was Palembei, home of master carver Teddy Balangu. Dr. Carol Mayer, Oceanic Curator of the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, had come with us to meet Teddy, who would in a few months begin a term as Carver in Residence at the museum, courtesy of the Andrew Fellowship. Coast Salish carver John Marston had come to meet Teddy too; shared passion for their art made the two carvers fast friends.
We found on arrival a stage erected in the midst of the floodwaters to allow access to the spirit house from what is usually the dancing grounds. As our canoe drew close we were welcomed by the thrilling sounds of several garamut drums and the appearance of thirty dancers in full ceremonial regalia. Sounds of excitement rippled through the audience assembled in canoes from surrounding villages. Behind the intricately painted images were the faces of our friends.
As we journeyed, John quietly absorbed and adjusted to a culture where the art of carving, while threatened, is still an integral part of everyday life. In the days following our tumultuous welcome, John was warmly embraced by the artists and invited to carve with them. Working for the first time with garamut wood, he created an exquisite mask combining the elements of Coast Salish design and the soft natural earth pigments from Palembei. It is part of this exhibition. Since returning home, John has created two other magnificent large scale carvings inspired by this memorable experience, which he says “has changed my life forever.” The first is a monumental freestanding panel carved in deep relief on both surfaces. The two sides relate to the sun and the moon on both sides of the Pacific. One surface speaks to his river journey while the other relates to his Salish world here. By gazing through the eyes of the masks on one side one 'sees' through the eyes of the others on the reverse. The entire piece is created from yellow cedar and is pegged into a frame constructed from rosewood and black walnut. The second is Palembei Sunset. The last photo in the gallery at left shows why he chose that theme.
Palembei village is home to a remarkable number of major artists. Great carving families have kept the culture firmly entrenched; many senior artists such as Peter Minja create imaginative and innovative works based on stories passed down to them by the elders, and in turn they pass on their skills to a growing number of younger artists. These stories are of mythical beings such as Bukduma, an enormous hybrid between a pig and a fish who with his snout keeps the riverbanks intact, as the water constantly changes course (although he was clearly overwhelmed by his job at the time of our visit). Bukduma has recently emerged from the tale in a three-dimensional form. One of Peter’s renditions of this character is now part of the new collection of contemporary Sepik works at the Museum of Anthropology. Also in that collection are works by other artists in this show, including Arnold Ambu, Kipa Gaindimi, Kaua Gita, Angelina Gumowe, Belden Minjan, Michael Timbin, Sylvester Tungi, Camilus Waybenang- and, of course, Teddy Balangu.
Teddy has created for this exhibition two superb figures based on mythological stories and reminiscent of the tall graceful roof finials for which his region is renowned. Since arriving in Canada, Teddy has enjoyed carving birch, spruce, and both red and yellow cedar. A yellow cedar suspension hook carved during many weekends at Alcheringa this summer and fall is also part of this show.
Appropriate to the exhibition’s title, we are fortunate to have a superb and rare garamut drum by the great Maramba carver Plasus Asapi. Used as a means of communication for thousands of years, the garamut or slit gong drum may be used to simply announce important happenings in the village, or to summon an individual from a distance in the case of an emergency. When used in ritual, the drum interprets totems belonging to the seven clans of the village of Maramba, representing a particular animal, a lake, a sacred site, a bird, or a snake belonging to each clan. It also accompanies the dance at a singsing. In the video of the welcome ceremony given for John, you can hear and see three large garamut drums keeping time for the dancers.
In Kaminibit, the home of the great elder artist Sylvester Tungi, we found that in readiness for our arrival, the artists had built a raised platform in the midst of the floodwaters to show us the work they had prepared. Gazing over the endless stretches of water were a group of wicked cassowary women from the hand of Arnold Ambu, and in contrast with the massive forces of nature around us stood Sylvester’s exquisite bamboo flutes.
Joseph Kandimbu was one of the resident carvers who helped create the New Guinea Sculpture Garden at Stanford University in 1996. While there and in response to his viewing of the Rodin garden, Joseph created his own version of The Thinker, which was part of our 2002 show Ancestral Flights 3. On returning home, he looked at his Sepik world in a new way, and began to create works inspired by both mythic and real events, like The Wedding Guest. This carving was inspired by Joseph’s attendance at a village wedding, where he saw a man presenting a carved mask as a gift.
Much has been written about the art of the middle Sepik. The museums of the world are full of examples of the treasures of the past, and there is a reverence for the culture of the time in which they were created. Knowledge of the work from the past is important for current generations of Sepik carvers to learn from and to establish their place in the world of today. Generous bequests such as the donation of the Jolika collection by John and Marcia Friede to the New de Young Museum in San Francisco, and the accompanying fellowship fund will empower both rural and urban artists to visit the museum to learn from the collection and to share their skills. In turn it will help inform the viewing public that there are contemporary artists creating magnificent works in many media: acrylic, charcoal, metal and wood.
There is an embarrassment of riches within this collection and it is impossible to verbally do justice to the extraordinarily varied and imaginative sculpture from all twenty-six artists. I’m very grateful to all of the artists with whom I’ve been given the opportunity to work.
Elaine Monds, Director
Alcheringa Gallery | | PHOTOS | 
Highway to the Sepik River. | 
Carving a dugout canoe, Korogo. (photo: J. Marston) | 
A crocodile canoe prow. Each prow is carved differently so as to distinguish its owner's vehicle. (photo: A. Holbrook) | 
Navigating a jungle waterway. | 
The high waters of the wet season make it easier to move building materials out of the forest. | 
The haus tambaran of Teddy's clan, scene of the welcome dance shown in the video above. The dance platform in front was constructed in anticipation of the event using logs ferried in by the method shown in the previous photo. | 
A garamut drummer at the welcome ceremony in Palembei. (photo: A. Holbrook) | 
Teddy and John at a carving party in the haus tambaran. (photo: A. Holbrook) | 
Finishing touches are applied to Jackson Timbin's dancing mask. | 
On John's third day in Palembei, Teddy's grandson was born. He was christened Noah, after John's baby boy. (photo: J. Marston) | 
Elaine and John share observations near the mast of the main canoe. (photo: C. Mayer) | 
Peter Campbell films a dance in Korogo for Killerwhale & Crocodile. | 
John Marston poses against massive tree buttresses. This is the dense wood from which storyboards like the ones in this show are carved. | 
A woman in Kambot peels strands from a mangus tree. This is how the fibres used in many of the pieces in this show are made. When the fibres are peeled fine enough, they are often dyed using a variety of plant extracts. | 
A cassowary (Casuarius unappendiculatus). This fearsome bird transforms into a woman in the legend carved for this show by Arnold Ambu. | 
Travelling on as the sun sets over the river. (photo: A. Holbrook) |
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