Tea & Tales 2019
ShareTea & Tales is a museum program that runs for seven weeks each summer. Every Tuesday from 2-4pm during July and August the museum hosts an afternoon tea and local residents and special visitors present a tale on various topics relating to Pemberton's History. This year our theme is "Local Art: Past & Present" and will feature local presenters. Admission is $2.
So what is Art? Art is defined as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. Art also includes the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance.
Why is Art is important? Art reflects and informs the culture from which it emerges. Art created reflects a time and a place and the values and beliefs of that place. Art can be considered a mirror that is held up to inspire reflection on what is, and what was.
In the past, local art wasn't the exception, it was the reality. Communicating and growing beyond local borders was largely impossible. Today we can communicate with nearly anyone, anywhere. However it is Local Art that gives a community meaning and a sense of place and so it remains an important aspect of any community. Art has the ability to share common values and beliefs between different groups of people. This type of communication is important for society.
Creativity is a beautiful experience that brings people and communities together, regardless of race, gender, age or religion. Integrating the arts more fully into our lives enriches each of us and because engaging in the arts brings individuals together, and it fosters community.
The following videos are edited versions of each talk. For a copy of these or any of our Tea & Tales presentations please Contact Us.
Tea & Tales: Lil'wat Artists July 9th 2019Tea & Tales 2019 Lil'wat Artists - “My Carving Journey” with Jonathan Joe, “Bring Back Cedar Root Weaving“ with Master Weaver Antolaya7 Vera Edmonds and “Regalia Making - Telling My Story” with Lois Mamaya7 Joseph. We are starting the Tea & Tale program by featuring Lil’wat artists who are here to demonstrate the traditional arts of carving, basket weaving and regalia making. These are the oldest expressions of art in the area and we are honored to have these artists here today to share their personal stories from their creative journeys.Watch Video | |
Tea & Tales: Wim Tewinkle July 16th 2019Tea & Tales: Wim Tewinkle We had Wim Tewinkle of Poole Creek BC was born in the Netherlands and studied forestry in Holland, spent three years in Kenya and then immigrated to Canada. After some time in Quebec and Ontario, he moved to British Columbia and settled in the Pemberton area in 1984. He has worked as a forester with the First Nations people of the region. He has traveled extensively all over the world and speaks several languages. In 2003 he authored the book “Salish Elders”. In 2009 he published “Forest Life”. He lives in a house he built himself, he and his wife share their home with a dog, a cat, a couple of horses, some fish and a whole bunch of orchid plants. Wim is a well known local artist. He is a creative person who has many outlets and titled this tale “Art – Just Do it” as this best expresses his creative journey.Watch Video | |
Tea & Tales: Eric Andersen July 23rd 2019This past Tuesday the museum held it's third Tea and Tale. Eric Andersen's presentation about Modern Artists discovery of the Sea to Sky and Emily Carr's trip by rail through the area. The theme for the program this year is Local Art: Past & Present. Eric is a local historian with Squamish and Scandanavian roots. He is involved with the Sea to Sky Forestry society who celebrate Squamish’s rich forest and lumbering history. He is also a Councillor for the District of Squamish. Eric is no stranger to the Pemberton Museum and has given us some wonderful presentations through the years. Eric had other commitments on Tuesday this week so dropped by on Sunday so we could film his tale.Watch Video | |
Lil'wat Rock Paintings with Johnny JonesThis past Tuesday the museum held it's fourth Tea and Tale. The theme for the program this year is Local Art: Past & Present Johnny Jones told us about the oldest art form in the region “rock paintings”. These paintings communicate messages to travelers throughout Lil’wat territory – yesterday and today. Johnny is an Archaeology Cultural Technician with the Lands and Resources Department and has spent his life walking and studying Lil'wat traditional territory. His traditional name means “weather changer” and he has spent his life promoting traditional knowledge and the stories about the land that sustains Lil’wat Nation. The land and the people are one. Johnny is the acknowledged expert on Lil’wat rock paintings, Culturally Modified Trees, and Housepits and has contributed greatly to our understanding of Lil’wat Traditional Territory. Johnny’s main focus is documenting cultural sites and protecting them from destruction. He ensures Lil’wat nation is consulted and title and rights are addressed before any work moves forward on traditional territory. He often travels to conferences and gatherings to share his knowledge. He works with archaeologists, ethnographers and high school and university students to share his knowledge and to broaden our understanding of Lil’wat territory. We’re honoured that Johnny could join us to share his stories.Watch Video | |
Tea & Tales: The Need to Create with Levi Nelson Aug 6th 2019The program this Tuesday features Levi Nelson, who is from the Lil’wat Nation located in Mount Currie BC. He is currently in his third year at Emily Carr University working towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus on painting. Within his art practice he is exploring traditional North West Coast shape & form-line and ancestral motifs, like Lil’wat pictographs, fusing them with contemporary design and colour. His interest lies in exploring Aboriginal culture within the context of contemporary Western society. His work, Cultural Fragments 2017 and Inter-Tribal Diptych 2017, expresses his current view on contemporary First Nations Art. He is interested in merging the age-old tradition of North West Coast shapes and Interior Rock Paintings with bright colours and unconventional compositions to communicate both the plight and successes of Aboriginal people today. Nelson passionately explains: “the combination of traditional elements with abstract form and colour, for me, represents in metaphor the survival and continued growth of Aboriginal Peoples thriving in today’s Western Society; with one hand on traditional values and teachings and the other navigating and sustaining the success of a proud people who have survived genocide, assimilation, political strife, and stigma. The pieces of us that were shattered are now being put back together, creating a strong and vibrant future for generations to come.”Watch Video | |
Tea & Tales Linda K. Thompson Chevorets and Tapioca Storie and PoemsLinda K. Thompson grew up in the Pemberton Valley and has lived for many years in the shadow of the Beaufort Range on Vancouver Island. She tends to pin her poem’s puny, homesick characters against both these walloping landscapes. Her poem Botany for Beginners was shortlisted for the Malahat Review Far Horizons prize and she received Honourable Mention from the Troubadour International Poetry Prize out of London, England for her poem Gloria. Linda has a chapbook “Four Small People in Sturdy Shoes” and her full-length manuscript “Black Bears in the Carrot Field” is making the rounds of publishers. A poet friend says of Linda’s writing: Her poems manage to combine the twang of the hurtin’ song with something dark and lyrical.” You can see more about Linda and her art on her websiteWatch Video | |
Tea & Tales: Historic Artists Rene Ronayne, Pat Wilson, Marjory Gimse Aug 20th 2019The museum supervisor Teresa Smith gave a presentation on the three historic artists we highlighted for our last Tea and Tale of the season – Pat Wilson, Rene Ronayne and Marjory Gimse.Watch Video |