Beat Nation

Another journey to Vancouver, and another trip to VAG.  Sometimes I'm looking at their collection for the fourth or fifth time, and it's not so exciting.  This last trip was to Beat Nation - contemporary First Nations art as it relates to the hip hop culture.  Oh so amazing.  I was thoroughly delighted to come across every single piece of unexpected brilliance, from the banana seat bicycles pimped out with beads and deer hide, to the 20 foot high spray painted Thunderbird tag, to the fancy dress that looked entirely traditional until you saw the little pattern of men holding AK-47s.  And the video art - I'm so glad my kids were with me.  In school they learn about Inuit seal hunts and Haida fish-curing techniques.  They don't learn that a terrible wrong was done and that it must be fixed.  The statements made by the First Nations artists in this show were full-on, accusatory, exhilarating and had a lasting effect on all of us.