Piece of the Far East

(courtesy of the Free Press, Page 85, Thursday, December 21,2000)

Artists from another north showcase their heritage

The Nanai people are indigenous to the Russian Far East. They are centered around the region just north of the city of Khabarovsk, which is a regional centre in a remote area of Russia, located on the mighty Amur River (10th longest in the world). It is found near the 50th parallel and is heavily forested.

The Nanai are a very old culture, dating back to stone-age times in the Amur basin. They have a long history of arts and art-crafts. For the rest of December some of their best-known artists will have pieces on display at the TwoRivers Art Gallery in the city of Prince George, which is a regional centre in a remote area of Canada, located on the mighty Fraser River. It is found near the 54th parallel and is heavily forested.  Its indigenous people are Carrier-Secani, who also have a millenia-old history punctuated by arts and crafts.

Another similarity is the emphasis Russian and Canadian governments and societies are placing right now on indigenous cultural preservation. The Nanai region and and the Prince George region were natural partners in these endeavours.

"The Gallery did a very nice job displaying what they had. All the artifacts are for sale, and there are other items not in the show that are also for sale, and we can always order more from Russia," says Ekaterina Belous, in sales pitch mode.  She is the administartive co-ordinator of this Russia-Canada  interconnection project. She came to Prince George from Russia four months ago, to carry out the ambitious project of cultural linkage. The art show is only one part of this four-year program.

"This is the second year of the program", she says. "The first year was mostly introduction, initiating contacts, opening the office, presenting the project legally in Russia. We had a lot of obstacles, legal difficulties, but right now we can see how much we learnt, how much we benefited, how much we managed to do."

The project has several components: value-added wood enterprises, non-wood forest products, regional tourism, national park creation in Russia, and strengthening first nations connections. Ekaterina is stationed at College of New Caledonia and is working with partners like CNC, the Lheidli T'enneh Band, McGregor Model Forest and CIDA who contribute financing, resources and personnel.

The artisan exhibition is only the first part.  It is an introductory gesture. Annette Schroeder of the Two Rivers Art Gallery says that "It speaks of the culture - the detail and use of colour and form, and the link with their history". It demonstrates complicated woodwork, decorative fibre arts, drawings, unique birch bark cups and many other items of simple design but impressive execution.

"It (first nations' art) has a very high interest in Russia," says Ekaterina. "A few of the artists in this exhibit are country-known. Two are members of the All-Russian Artist's Association and have been displayed in the United States, one is a poetess and a member of the All-Russian Writing Association and she does crafts too. All are active in their local communities. We are planning to bring two of them next year to meet with first nations people here to see how they promote their crafts and their heritage. In my mind, as a Russian, I find it very helpful. The international community is very interested in developing Russia's potential but there is a lot of talking and not a lot of actions in daily activities to do this.  This is something that does get people from both nations together to really learn from each other. It can be seen how a small business idea can grow into a big business. That is what I think the greates value is".