Another public artist, Edgar Heap of Birds, is coming to Vancouver to give four talks about his provocative and political work, as well as to explore the possibility of finding a permanent home for an earlier exhibit with a B.C. theme.

In 1992, he contributed 12 outdoor panels to the group show Lost Illusions at the Vancouver Art Gallery. A commentary on land ownership, each said British Columbia in reverse lettering, followed by variations on the sentence: "Today your host is Haida" in a dozen local First Nations languages. "They've been sitting in my studio ever since," the Cheyenne artist told the Straight, on the phone from Oklahoma City. "I'm interested in putting them back out."

Known for pieces that point out harsh truths about the treatment of Native Americans, Heap of Birds has also collaborated with indigenous people around the world. In his presentations at the Museum of Anthropology, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, and Simon Fraser University, he'll discuss recent projects, including Eagles Speak, a film he made with Native American and African colleagues. "It's important to build alliances with other First Nations rather than to fixate on what we don't have in the white American structure of power." He'll also preview Wheel, a major porcelain-and-steel sculpture that will front the Denver Art Museum by next spring. Catch the artist at the MOA on Friday and Sunday (February 13 and 15) at 2 p.m., at ECIAD on Monday (February 16) at noon (with info at 604-844-3809), and at SFU Burnaby campus's Maggie Benston Centre Grad Lounge on Friday at 10:30 a.m. (604-467-1531).