As Barry Till recently announced his retirement as the Curator of Asian Arts, AGGV staff had some burning questions about his 36-year tenure at the Gallery and his travels throughout Asia. Here’s the nitty gritty: 1) Why art – what led you down this path? BT: My first choice for a career would have been to […]
In Christian iconography, the apple symbolizes Original Sin, the fall of man and temptation. In Chinese culture, the word for apple, “ping guo”, is a homophone for the word “ping”, meaning peace or tranquility, so an apple symbolizes a wish for peace. Apples also feature prominently in Greek myths. Fruits and vegetables are depicted in […]
1. What is snuff? Snuff is powdered tobacco, used in China during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) for medicinal purposes. 2. Snuff bottles are small, designed to fit into the palm of the hand, and easily carried on your person. 3. Chinese snuff bottles are made in a multitude of materials. These include porcelain, glass, metal, […]
August in the Gallery kicked off with a well-attended Curator’s Tour led by Haema Sivanesan, curator of Karen Tam: With wings like clouds hung from the sky. Welcoming the large group into the entrance of the exhibition, Haema described the work of artist Karen Tam as the re-creation of the Chinese-Canadian experience. Karen has long […]
Pictured above: Praying monk | Burma (Myanmar) | wood, lacquer, gilt pigment, glass | ht. 33.2 cm. | Harold and Vera Mortimer-Lamb Bequest, AGGV 1980 Victoria’s geographical location makes it Canada’s closest city to the Far East, so it seems fitting that the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria should have one of the country’s most distinguished Far […]
Confused by some of the terms you find in our Gallery or on our website? We’ve created a useful alphabetical list that explains some terms based on our current exhibition programming. Stay tuned to the AGGV emagazine as this will be a regular segment – and we’ll be sure to grow that list for you! […]
Montreal-based artist, Karen Tam, spent the month of May in Victoria in preparation for her exhibition at the AGGV, With wings like clouds hung from the sky 大鵬就振翼 (Seal Chop of Lee Nam installation – view pictured – above), which opens on June 3. Based on the friendship between Victoria’s iconic artist, Emily Carr, and […]
As the boulevards surrounding the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria burst into a cloud of pink and white blooms, we ushered in Spring with our inaugural Cherry Blossom Festival during the first week of April. Celebrations at the Gallery kicked off with an evening of poetry reading, followed by an afternoon’s family event that brought […]
Nestled in the AGGV garden amidst bamboo and Japanese maple is the only known Meiji-era Shinto shrine in North America. Completed in 1899, the 33rd year of the Meiji period, this family shrine was built by the Hayashi family and was located in Hanami. In 1921, the people of Hanami were instructed by the government of […]
We thank Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura and the guests who braved Victoria’s unusual winter blizzard on February 8, for coming to the AGGV’s inaugural Communities + Collections lecture. The aim of this new series is two-fold: firstly, to bring fresh insight into the Gallery’s permanent collection through lectures, workshops and tours by guest speakers and facilitators; and secondly, […]
In the third installment of our Communities + Collections program which focuses on the Gallery’s Asian Art collection and coincides with the exhibition Millennia: Asian Art through the Ages, we are happy to have Yang Liu talk about “The Transformation of Landscape Representation in Chinese Art”.
