The Seattle Art Museum presents S'abadeb (The Gifts): Pacific Coast Salish Art, the first major exhibition ever to explore the unique artistry and culture of Coast Salish First Peoples Of Washington State and British Columbia.
Seattle Art Museum presents S'abadeb
Location: Seattle Art Museum
1300 1st Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
Date(s):10/23/2008-01/11/2009
The Seattle Art Museum presents S'abadeb (The Gifts): Pacific Coast Salish Art, the first major exhibition ever to explore the unique artistry and culture of Coast Salish First Peoples Of Washington State and British Columbia. Organized by SAM, the exhibition features more than 175 works of art from national and international collections that offer a glimpse into the daily and ceremonial lives of the 4 groups that make up the Coast Salish.
Within this visually stunning exhibition, prehistoric, historic and contemporary works are shown side-by-side to emphasize the cultural exchanges beginning in the late 18th century as well as the ongoing vitality of Salish art traditions today. Dynamic multimedia presentations will be featured in the galleries, bringing art to life and taking visitors into the territories and lives of Salish peoples.
Drawn from private collections and 19 museums, the exhibition reveals the beauty and power of Coast Salish art and explores the concepts of property, status trade, ancestors and family within the Salish communities. Many of the works have never been on view and are, for the first time, interpreted by Native voices. Exhibition-related programming includes artist presentations, school tours and a film festival.
The title, S'abadeb, is the Lushootseed term "gifts" and invokes a principle at the heart of Salish culture: reciprocal gift giving. A richly symbolic concept, s'abadeb expresses the sustained acts of giving of one's time, resources and expertise during the course of everyday activities, during preparations and enactments of ceremonies, and within the private realm of religious rituals.
Seattle Art Museum
For 75 years, the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) has been a leading visual arts institution in the Pacific Northwest. SAM is a world-renowned arts institution with three locations, the Seattle Art Museum downtown, Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park and the Olympic Sculpture Park (OSP) in Belltown. SAM is an institution with global perspective. collecting and exhibiting objects from 140 cultures and exploring the connections between past and present. With approximately 25,000 objects, SAM's collections are unmatched in the region.
