Vancouver Anthology: The Institutional Politics of Art

Peter Roberts is the former Canadian Ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Art in Vancouver has always been different. This book is a record of the
difference. It will not be in great demand around the world, but it
documents faithfully what Vancouver artists have tried to do in the past
30 years to make their case against the establishments: those of Toronto
and Montreal, those of Ottawa, those of Vancouver itself, and especially
those of Victoria. Nowhere else in Canada is (or was when these pieces
were written) the provincial arts bureaucracy held in such contempt by
the artists as in British Columbia. Ottawa comes off best, with the
Canada Council putting its dollars on the side of those who would march
to a different drummer.

These are 10 essays (originally lectures) by 10 authors. Douglas tries
in his introduction to find a common purpose in them. Most are history
lessons: the history of B.C. painting, sculpture, artist-run centres,
art criticism, video art, film. There are fascinating windows opening on
Vancouver artists and how they feel about themselves, living there
beyond the forest in a Canadian Transylvania. There are new ideas about
Emily Carr and her artistic relationship to Jack Shadbolt. Roy Vickers
finds his place as a great Native artist who knew how to swim in this
sea.

British Columbia artists cannot escape the feeling that they live and
work on the periphery. This book is the attempt of some of them to
explain themselves. It is worth reading.