Stanley C. Hunt | |
|---|---|
 Stanley C. Hunt (left), his wife Lavina Hunt, and their son Jason Hunt, 2012, at Sunnylands in the Coachella Valley, California | |
| Born | 1954 (age 67–68) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Known for | Sculpture, Painting, Mentorship |
Stanley Clifford Hunt (born 1954) is a Canadian, First Nations Kwakiutl artist from British Columbia.
On his father's side, Stanley C. Hunt is a descendant of Native ethnologist George Hunt. He is also a descendant of a family of artists including his grandfather Mungo Martin, and his father Henry Hunt. [1] He and his brothers Richard (born 1951) and Tony (1942–2017) are all renowned international artists. [2] Stanley was born when his grandfather was Chief Carver at Thunderbird Park British Columbia Provincial Museum in Victoria, British Columbia. [3] His father succeeded his grandfather as Chief Carver in 1962. [2]
Stanley is an active artist working from his studio in Fort Rupert on Vancouver Island. He and his family teach traditional carving techniques to the next generation. [4] Stanley's work resides in private, public, and museum collections. [5] [3]
A documentary film, Totem was produced in 2013 by director/cinematographer/screenwriter, Franca González. This joint Canada/Argentina production chronicles Stanley's 2012 monumental 40+ foot pole-carving project which replaced a pole installed in 1964 in Plaza Canadá, Buenos Aires, Argentina, carved by his famous father, Henry Hunt. The film's world premiere occurred at the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival in September 2013. Additional film festival screenings include the DocBsAs International Festival 2014, Argentina; the International Documentary Festival, 2014, Catalunya, Spain; and the Mérida and Yucatán International Film Festival, 2015, Mexico. [6] [7] [8]
Stanley's grandfather, Mungo Martin is credited with saving and preserving Kwakiutl arts and culture by secretly maintaining potlatch ceremonies during the Canadian potlatch ban which outlawed these social events and the native arts associated with them. [9] The ban lasted from 1885 to 1951. The first legal potlatch after the law was repealed in 1951 was overseen by Martin in Victoria. [9] During the ban Martin carved two totem poles for the Canadian Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. These were a sensation and contained a subtle message protesting the ban: at the top of the pole, two thunderbirds spread their wings standing on the heads of giant grizzly bears. These are all symbols of strength and are representatives of his family crest. At the bottom of the pole was the emblem of Canada, two beavers. [10] In 1949, the University of British Columbia hired Martin to replicate the poles. While resident carver he built on site his own big house and collected and preserved 400 songs and oral histories. He is credited with the rebirth of an artistic heritage once pronounced dead. [10]
Continuing the family legacy of preserving cultural heritage, Stanley carved a 42 ft 10 in. totem pole for Plaza Canadá in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2012 to replace a 60-foot Henry Hunt/Mungo Martin pole which was installed there in 1962. The original pole had deteriorated beyond repair so Stanley was commissioned to replace the pole after representatives of the Argentine embassy sought a carver from the Hunt family. The pole contains Hunt family crests including a bear holding a halibut. A chief resides at the top of the pole holding a shield of copper which represents Henry Hunt. A killer whale represents the crest of Stanley Hunt's wife, Lavina Hunt, originally from Alert Bay. [11]
In another example of preserving his family's carving culture, in 2010 Stanley, his wife Lavina, and their artist son Jason Henry Hunt traveled to Rancho Mirage California to restore his father's 30-foot totem pole which was commissioned by Walter Annenberg and Leonore Annenberg in 1976 and resides at their former home, the Sunnylands estate. [12] In 2015, Stanley and his son Jason again traveled to California to restore another Henry Hunt totem pole which preceded the Sunnylands' pole arrival in the Coachella Valley when it was installed in Palm Springs. The Palm Springs pole had been a gift to the city in 1968 through the sister city program and still resides in its original location on Racquet Club Road in Victoria Park. [13]
Totem poles are monumental carvings, a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, by First Nations and indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast including northern Northwest Coast Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Kwakwaka'wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth communities in southern British Columbia, and the Coast Salish communities in Washington and British Columbia.
The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, also known as the Kwakiutl are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their current population, according to a 2016 census, is 3,665. Most live in their traditional territory on northern Vancouver Island, nearby smaller islands including the Discovery Islands, and the adjacent British Columbia mainland. Some also live outside their homelands in urban areas such as Victoria and Vancouver. They are politically organized into 13 band governments.
Thunderbird Park is a park in Victoria, British Columbia next to the Royal British Columbia Museum. The park is home to many totem poles and other First Nation monuments. The park takes its name from the mythological Thunderbird of Indigenous North American cultures which is depicted on many totem poles.
Tony Hunt Sr. was a Canadian First Nations artist noted for his KwaGulth style paintings and totem poles, which he carved from single cedar logs.
Northwest Coast art is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from Tlingit, Haida, Heiltsuk, Nuxalk, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and other First Nations and Native American tribes of the Northwest Coast of North America, from pre-European-contact times up to the present.
Chief Mungo Martin or Nakapenkem, Datsa, was an important figure in Northwest Coast style art, specifically that of the Kwakwaka'wakw Aboriginal people who live in the area of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. He was a major contributor to Kwakwaka'wakw art, especially in the realm of wood sculpture and painting. He was also known as a singer and songwriter.
George Hunt (Tlingit) was a Canadian and a consultant to the American anthropologist Franz Boas; through his contributions, he is considered a linguist and ethnologist in his own right. He was Tlingit-English by birth and learned both those languages. Growing up with his parents at Fort Rupert, British Columbia in Kwakwaka'wakw territory, he learned their language and culture as well. Through marriage and adoption he became an expert on the traditions of the Kwakwaka'wakw of coastal British Columbia.
Henry Hunt was a First Nations woodcarver and artist from the Kwakwaka'wakw people of coastal British Columbia. He carved a number of totem poles which are on public display in Canada and internationally.
Richard Hunt is a Canadian First Nations artist from coastal British Columbia.
David A. Boxley is an American artist from the Tsimshian tribe in Alaska, most known for his prolific creation of Totem Poles and other Tsimshian artworks.
Norman Tait was a Nisga'a First Nations sculptor and totem pole carver from northwestern British Columbia, Canada.
Kwaguʼł are a Kwakwakaʼwakw tribe of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast from central British Columbia, on northern Vancouver Island. Their main community is called Tsax̱is or Fort Rupert. The ancestral language is Kwakʼwala, a language that is a part of the Wakashan language group. In their language, Kwaguʼł translates to Smoke-Around-the-World referring to the smoke that exited from the many bighouses in their villages.
Willie Seaweed (1873–1967) was a Kwakwaka'wakw chief and wood carver from Canada. He was considered a master Northwest Coast Indian artist who is remembered for his technical artistic style and protection of traditional native ceremonies during the Canadian potlatch ceremony ban. Today, Seaweed's work can be found in cultural centers and corporations, art museums, natural history museums, and private collections. Some pieces are still in use by the Nak'waxda'xw tribe.
Ellen Neel (1916–1966) was a Kwakwakaʼwakw artist woodcarver and is the first woman known to have professionally carved totem poles. She came from Alert Bay, British Columbia, and her work is in public collections throughout the world.
Kwakwaka'wakw art describes the art of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples of British Columbia. It encompasses a wide variety of woodcarving, sculpture, painting, weaving and dance. Kwakwaka'wakw arts are exemplified in totem poles, masks, wooden carvings, jewelry and woven blankets. Visual arts are defined by simplicity, realism, and artistic emphasis. Dances are observed in the many rituals and ceremonies in Kwakwaka'wakw culture. Much of what is known about Kwakwaka'wakw art comes from oral history, archeological finds in the 19th century, inherited objects, and devoted artists educated in Kwakwaka'wakw traditions.
Formline art is a feature in the indigenous art of the Northwest Coast of North America, distinguished by the use of characteristic shapes referred to as ovoids, U forms and S forms. Coined by Bill Holm in his 1965 book Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form, the "formline is the primary design element on which Northwest Coast art depends, and by the turn of the 20th century, its use spread to the southern regions as well. It is the positive delineating force of the painting, relief and engraving. Formlines are continuous, flowing, curvilinear lines that turn, swell and diminish in a prescribed manner. They are used for figure outlines, internal design elements and in abstract compositions."
Beau Dick was a Kwakwaka'wakw Northwest Coast artist and Chief who lived and worked in Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada. He was a contemporary artist, activist and hereditary Chief from the Namgis First Nation. Dick was an award winning artist with an extensive national and international exhibition history.
Corrine Hunt, also known as Nugwam Gelatleg'lees, is a Kwakwaka'wakw/Tlingit artist, carver, jeweller and designer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Plaza Canadá is a public square in the Retiro neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina located within the streets of Maipú, Antártida Argentina, San Martin, and Dr. José María Ramos Mejía.
Tim Paul is a member of the Hesquiaht tribe from the Nuu-Chah-Nulth first nation. He is a master carver from Esperanza Inlet British Columbia. He was the senior carver at the Royal British Columbia Museum until 1992 when he left to oversee an indigenous education program for the Port Alberni school board on Vancouver Island.