This spring the Langham Cultural Society in Kaslo is presenting a new series dedicated to water and the Columbia River Basin. The 2015 Café Langham – Inspired Ideas series will host three talks and a special field trip to kick off its popular speaker series.
This Water series is inspired by, and dedicated to aboriginal artist Marianne Nicolson’s exhibition Waterline, on display in the main Langham Gallery until May 31.
Nicholson’s work explores the endurance and providence of the rivers and lakes of BC and by extension celebrates the life and spirit of all river systems. The Langham Cultural Society acknowledges Nicolson’s seminal work in this time of regional preparations for the renewed initiatives coming up with the Columbia River Treaty and celebrates the importance of water as a life-sustaining and vital element in all our lives. The artist articulates, “In a symbolic gesture, the artwork seeks to illuminate and make visible the drowned images of aboriginal presence. It seeks to bring a once submerged story to the surface.”
The Langham Gallery is touring Nicolson’s Waterline exhibition to the Kootenay Gallery in Castlegar, June 19 to Aug. 1 and both the Langham and the Kootenay Gallery are excited about their partnership in the Columbia Basin Youth Grant, archaeology outreach.
Ian Tamasi, public archaeologist from Cranbrook, will work with youth in Kaslo and in the Lardeau today and in Castlegar at the Kootenay Gallery tomorrow, exploring the important history of human occupation in the region over the past 12,000 years. Under this program, older youth will also be involved in a cultural research residency, Underwater: The Lost Pictographs of the Kootenays, under the mentorship of local artist Eliza Fry.
Participants will present their project on May 27 at the Kaslo Youth Centre at 2 p.m., and on May 29 at the Lardeau Valley Community Centre at 2 p.m., and again at the Kootenay Gallery on June 20 at 2 p.m. Everyone is welcome.
Café Langham – Inspired Ideas 2015 series began in late March with Kaslo author Amanda Bath’s book launch of Disaster in Paradise: The Landslides in Johnsons Landing, discussing the process of writing and editing in conversation with Bath’s editor, Holley Rubinsky.
Kootenay Archaeology, just passed, was the second talk, presented by Ian Tamasi. Discussion ranged from modern and local applications of archaeology in the region to our area’s history.
The Salmon Ambassador’s Story will be the third Cafe Langham in the Water series. It is scheduled for Thursday, May 28 at 7 p.m. Recently appointed as one of two salmon ambassadors by the Canadian Columbia River Inter-tribal Fisheries Commission and the Ktunaxa Nation Council, Gerry Nellestijn will share information about water, the Columbia River Treaty and the opportunity of Treaty initiatives focusing on salmon reintroduction in the Basin waterways.
On Monday, June 15, join Café Langham for a rare opportunity to learn firsthand about the archaeology of the area at Lemon Creek on the Slocan River while visiting one of the largest and oldest pithouse village sites in the Columbia Basin with anthropological archaeologist, Dr. Nathan Goodale. Cafe Langham is organizing a field trip to the Slocan Narrows Archaeology Project with Dr. Goodale, who leads the field school from Hamilton College, New York. He will take participants for a walk-about through the village site which has a history of occupation by aboriginal peoples dating more than 3,000 years.
The Langham Cultural Society invites all to join the varied conversations about rivers, salmon, history and the importance of water as a life-sustaining element. For more details email langham(at)netidea.com or phone 250-353-2661.