The Masks,
Humanity’s Mirror

PATRICIA BLACKBURN

f museums are not your cup of tea,

the exhibition “Masks of the

Northwest Coast” at the Vancouver
Art Gallery will change your
mind. This exhibition teaches
you about the First Nations of
the Pacific Northwest Coast
through mask art.
Masks are the manifestation
of powerful ancestral spirits and are

used to represent the supernatural
world, The thematic structure of this

exhibition divided,the mask collection

SeX...

ARIE-EVE LEBLANC & EVE-
IRENEE MAINVILLE

  

INow that we have your
attention, we will start...
Do you have about $8 to
spend?

Do you have three hours
ee?

If so, we have an idea for
ou.... You should go see the movie the
Horse Whisperer.

odzilla

UAKI TSUCHIYA

his album, Godzilla, is the sound track

or the film Godzilla, and it is released
y Epic/Sony Music Soundtrax. In

his CD, there are thirteen songs and

© tunes from the movie. This CD

features a mix of
j well-known

@ bands, such as

#! Rage Against

The Machine,

Ben Folds Five,

 

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ania,

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into five parts: the human face divine,
the Sky World, the Mortal World, the
Undersea World and the Spirit World.
Each category follows the First Nations
art’s evolution, during a period of
approximately two hundred years (from
1794 to 1997).

Until 1850, all the masks were rep-
resentations of the “human face

“<< divine,” such as noblewomen

ty

portrayed with labrets placed in
their lower lips. After 1870, we
can begin to name some of the
.. artists and discern many kinds
of masks. Used in particular
dances or to commemorate events, the
mask takes part in the people's lives.

Through this art form, we can learn

At the beginning, we see the lifestyle of
a New York family. The mother works
for a magazine and she works a lot.
The father in not “often” in the house.
This couple has a daughter and she’s
14 years old. The little girl has
a passion for horses. She likes
to horseback ride. But, one day,
an accident happens. This event
changes the life of the whole
family. It’s at this time that
Robert Redford’s character arrives.
This cowboy tries to restore the rela-

Foo Fighters and Green Day and a few
not so well known bands like
Fuzzbubble and JEOY DeLUXE. They
play mostly alternative songs.

Ben Folds Five, the guitarless trio,
plays a melodious and beautiful song,
but their song is so quiet that it sounds
a little strange among the other songs.
To make matters worse, it comes right
after the song by Rage Against The
Machine, which is aggressive and com-
pletely different. The producer should
have considered the order of songs.

Green Day plays their well-known

song ‘Brain Stew, which is remixed as a

easily about First Nations people
because each mask relates something.

Realism and mysticism are meeting
in an art where symbols are the only
way to distinguish membership;
because the mask consists of symbols
that can only be understood by people
who knows how to read those signs.
Eagles, bears, frogs, whales, moons,
suns, each representation has its mean-
ing. Even today, some artists make
masks to express themselves and to
represent their society. It is interesting
to understand the world of today
through symbols of the past.

Masks of the Northwest Coast is at the
Vancouver Art Gallery until October 12,
1998.

tionship that the horse and the girl had
before. In addition, as in every
American movie, there is a love story.
The mother falls in love with the hand-
some cowboy. However, we have to say
that you could be surprised by the end.

The movie felt very real because all
the actors were credible. The cine-
matography of this movie will probably
appear on the next list for Oscar night.

Robert Redford produced and also
acted in this movie. So, you must see
this performance!

Have a great time...

Godzilla version. During the song you
can hear the roars of Godzilla and the
strings. That makes the song totally
different from the original one.

The last two tunes are completely
isolated from the other songs. These
are instrumental music from the movie.
They are so relaxing and quiet that I
fell asleep while listening—I don't
think these two songs need to be
the CD.

But this CD is still worth listening
to and it’s cheap whgn you take the
variety of songs in

SLBprogram August 1998