www.theotherpress.ca Arts. Historical sailor art brings a flood of interest lattoos, whale teeth, and naked women on display at the Vancouver Maritime Museum By Keating Smith, Staff Writer he Vancouver Maritime Museums latest exhibit, Tattoos & Scrumshaw: The Art of the Sailor, has elicited a mix of opinions from the public since it opened earlier this month— though most have been positive. Among the feedback the exhibit and staff has received, a Langley mother has expressed her thoughts of outrage to the local media over the museums first ‘in-house’ display of sailor art, examining the history behind sailor tattoos and the lesser known scrimshaw carvings, citing them as “pornographic.” “We are an institution for all ages,” says Trish Owen, curator for the Vancouver Maritime Museum. “We have to be respectful to everyone in how we display our collections and this is why the more explicit scrimshaws are displayed higher up on the walls with warning signs next to the display cases.” Scrimshaw is an artistic practice that involves engraving or carving artwork into whalebones and teeth, which was created by sailors serving aboard whaling ships in the South Pacific during the mid 1700s. A typical journey for these ships would last anywhere from two to three years with a lot of downtime. This resulted in most men fulfilling their boredom with their imaginations and creating elaborate pieces of art from scraps of bone, teeth, and even muscle. The scrimshaw pieces on exhibit at the Vancouver Maritime Museum vary in shape and sizes, as do the images. These artifacts depict everything from sailing ships with immense and intricate details of their rigging to women receiving cunninglus and men “pleasuring themselves;” mostly engraved in sperm whale bones. “The scrimshaw pieces on These artifacts depict everything from sailing ships with immense and intricate details of their rigging to women receiving cunninglus and men ‘pleasuring themselves; ’ mostly engraved in sperm whale bones. 66 display are from our collection and, in my opinion, are a vital piece of maritime history,” says Owen, also mentioning that both the scrimshaw pieces and the tattoo aspect of the exhibit are quite similar in regards to their techniques. Traditionally, each piece or tattoo brought someone luck or displayed a symbol of experience or significance about that person. As an example, a more common piece seen today is that of two barn swallows flying towards each other below a person’s clavicle, with each A load of opportunity Vancouver last porn theatre to become a music venue By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor ount Pleasant’s Fox Theatre has been leased by Waldorf Productions’ Tom Anselmi, Ernesto Gomez, Danny Fazio, and the duo of David Duprey and Rachel Zottenberg—owners of several indie venues in Vancouver, including the Rickshaw. Why is this news of such importance? The Fox Theatre, as it turns out, is Vancouver's last porn theatre. There are probably a few questions running through your head right now, such as “We still have those?” It’s now been leased to five loud voices in Vancouver's artistic community, who are intending to turn the local spank bank into a miniature music venue. As already reported, the group intends to start this nifty project by cleaning the place out themselves. I can only imagine the inside is horrifying, save for swallow historically symbolizing 5,000 nautical miles of travel. The exhibit goes into more detail and breadth on the tattoo aspect of the display, which traces the origins all the way back to the 1700s and even further from places such as the Solomon Islands and Tahiti and the interactions the indigenous people had with the whalers at the time. Vancouver tattoo artist Chris Hold was fundamental in making the exhibit come together by replicating several pieces for the display of original sailor tattoo art created by several American tattoo artists responsible for pioneering the cultural phenomenon. Also noteworthy are the traditional needle and ink bowl on loan from the Museum of Anthropology, next to the various forms of tattooing tools used over the decades from different areas of the South Pacific and even closer to home. A lot of information has been packed into the exhibit, which possesses a tough and reserved atmosphere and is Photo courtesy of Keating Smith especially recommended to anyone who is interested in the tattooing or scrimshaw aspect. Try and imagine some of the hardships the men felt while taking in the Scrimshaw pieces. If you feel like making the worthy trip out to Kitsilano to take it in, don’t forget to bring your Student ID for a discounted admission. the Fox Theatre was intimate before, all of the venue’s projects will be possible with only 200 seats to sell for each performance. Going back a bit, the same argument for keeping Vancouver’s neon signs alive could be applied to those who are a little sad to know the last porn theatre will be gone. As David Lynch has taught us, even the nicest towns need a little bit of seediness. Again, I’m excited for this new venue, which the team is still hoping to name Fox Theatre, but I feel like we’re losing a piece of history—even an apparent mural of Scott Baio in one of the bathrooms. I’m always heartbroken when another part of Vancouver's heritage or arts scene is taken away. While Ill be honest and say I feel like one porn theatre isn’t going to kill anybody, I’m also looking forward to a new venue by an amazing crew of people who’re interested in keeping our indie culture alive. While the Fox Theatre is being labeled as a music venue (DJs included), there are also going to be theatre performances, film screenings, comedy shows—if you thought if it’s a splooge-covered piece of history. The new and improved Fox Theatre likely won't be open until next year, or at least until the end of this year. The new venue will offer a lot of opportunity for up-and-coming artists and artists who just want a more intimate setting in what is now a significantly less dangerous and seedy part of Vancouver. Rather than forgetting all about the old Fox Theatre, just remind yourselves if you're ever at the venue that, “Hey, this used to be a porn theatre... Cool!”