News from the art world

VAG controversy provokes division in arts community
Despite the animal-rights controversy that culminated in the dismantling of an installation that used live lizards, toads, scorpions, tarantulas, cockroaches, millipedes, and snakes, the Vancouver Art Gallery's chief curator said she would consider similar exhibits in the future.

"Does this mean we'll never have any insects or reptiles or animals in the gallery? No. I think you take each consideration separately and view it within the larger context," Daina Augaitis told the Straight .

Chinese-born artist Huang Yong Ping 's Theater of the World , an installation in the gallery's current retrospective of his work, came under fire from the Vancouver Humane Society and the BC SPCA. When the BC SPCA ordered that the lizards and tarantulas be removed from the exhibit–after the VAG had complied with earlier demands to provide more water, lighting, and hiding spaces for the animals–the gallery and artist chose to remove the animals altogether and leave the cage empty as a sign of protest.

"I think that he [Huang] is angry that he was forced to do this," said Augaitis, "but it was impossible to comply with the latest orders, and that really would have neutralized the work."

The controversy has provoked strong opposing reactions within the local arts community. Scott Watson , director-curator of the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery and associate professor of fine arts at UBC, told the Straight he was angry that animal-rights concerns had taken precedence over the artistic integrity of Huang's work.

"I think that the humane society saw an opportunity to bring its own issues to the foreground at the expense of the VAG. I think it was a cynical move on their part," he said. "We need people protecting animal rights. But in this situation I think what they did was inappropriate and cynical.”¦Vancouver's trying to be a player on the international stage of contemporary art and doing a pretty good job. When things like this happen, it shows that when all is said and done, we don't have a culture here that understands and respects the value of art."

Carol Gigliotti , an artist and animal-rights activist who teaches interactive design and media at Emily Carr Institute, said she supported the BC SPCA and the Vancouver Humane Society's handling of the situation. "Artists often feel that what they are doing is somehow sacred and they have this idea that they should be able to have the freedom of whatever they want to do," she said, adding, "I do think there are things that trump artistic freedom and for me, that is the well-being of another being." One lizard, one tarantula, one scorpion, and one cockroach died over the course of the exhibition, Augaitis confirmed, stressing that none had fallen victim to predation.

> Jessica Werb

Canada council windfall for B.C. arts
The Vancouver Symphony, Vancouver Opera, and the Vancouver Art Gallery have all received large one-time grants from the Canada Council for the Arts. The Supplementary Operating Funds Initiative marked the largest-ever Canada Council grant competition, totalling $33 million in funding. Seventy-nine organizations in B.C. received funds. The largest award in the province, $1.14 million, went to the Vancouver Symphony. The Vancouver Art Gallery received $450,000, and the Vancouver Opera Association received $350,000. The funds were awarded with an emphasis on "key institutions" and are meant to support artistic development, audience development, or administration. The largest award overall, $2.2 million, went to the Canadian Opera Company.

> Jessica Werb

Superstar tenor returns to vancouver opera stage
Richard Margison , the internationally acclaimed Victoria-born tenor, will perform with Vancouver Opera after a 10-year absence, as part of VO's recently unveiled 2007–08 season. Margison will sing the role of Florestan in a contemporary staging of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio (March 22 to 29, 2008), set in a prison in Eastern Europe at the height of the cold war. In addition to Fidelio , which was last staged in Vancouver 23 years ago, VO will present Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (November 10 to 17), Gioacchino Rossini's The Italian Girl in Algiers (January 26 to February 2, 2008), and Giacomo Puccini's La Bohí¨me (April 26 to May 8, 2008). Nonsubscription tickets go on sale August 7.

> Jessica Werb

Playhouse announces new season
The curtain has been raised on the Playhouse Theatre Company 's 45th season, with highlights including a new work by Morris Panych. The play, titled The Amorous Adventures of Anatol (February 16 to March 8, 2008), is an adaptation of an 1893 cycle of one-act plays by Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler. The Playhouse will also present The Wars , a stage adaptation of Timothy Findley's World War I novel (October 13 to November 3), as well as the one-woman suburban drama The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead , performed by Stratford Festival veteran Lucy Peacock (January 12 to February 2, 2008). Also on the playbill are the musical Oliver! (November 17 to December 15) and Sam Shepard's tale of sibling rivalry True West (March 29 to April 19, 2008). Tickets go on sale September 4.

> Jessica Werb

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