Wall Hanging

The Musqueam, along with other Salish peoples, come from a long tradition of weaving. Although contemporary weavers weave for a variety of reasons, several of the weavers at Musqueam have expressed that their weaving enables them to connect with their ancestors and at the same time leave a cultural legacy for future generations. Many weave primarily for personal use and for gifts to family and friends, while others weave as a profession and sell their work to galleries, museums, or through corporate commissions.

This piece was made by Debra Sparrow for Edna Grant and is one of the early examples of her weaving. The piece later passed to Grant's son, who then passed it on to Yvonne Peters for her store, where Johnson purchased it, and donated it to MOA.

contemporary art; weaving

Woven with s-spun wool, dyed with natural dyes. Double strand twining was used.

Narrow, rectangular wall hanging with white looped warps and predominantly white weft yarns. Woven designs are executed in peach, light grey and light yellow colours. Begins with four rows of double strand twining in white, followed by four rows of twining where one of the two weft yarns is light grey. This is followed by four rows of twining in white and then six rows of alternating white and peach coloured wefts. The next portion of the weaving features two widely spaced, peach coloured hourglass shapes on a white background, followed by one row of peach twining then two more peach coloured hourglass shapes flanking the midline of the weaving. Another row of peach twining follows, then a single peach coloured hourglass on a white background. The centre of the weaving is marked with three rows of multi-coloured twining. The two outer rows are twined in alternating grey and light yellow wefts, while the centre row is done entirely in peach coloured wool. The pattern then repeats, in opposite order, to create a mirror image effect.