FEMINIS T FOLKIE: The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 27,1979-Page 5 No ennui rom Inuit By JONATHAN KUHN imaginative and resourceful spirit. "Inuit" refers to The exhibits-"Image and Life" and "The Inuit the people we commonly call Eskimo; andis the name Print"-currently showing at the University of preferred by natives of Northwest Canada. Inuit prin- Michigan's Museum of Art, prove that quality displays tmaking was established in 1957 by James Houston, an of art needn't be accompanied by commercial hoopla. artist from southern Canada. Convinced of the poten- The contrasting origins of the works in the two exhibits tial of Inuit printing as a cultural asset and economic are particularly exciting. Together the shows mainstay, he organized a co-operative printing represent the span of human artistic achievement-the workshop at Cape Dorset. former presents pre-historic artifacts from Japan (in- The Cape Dorset has been highly successful, and cluding the oldest pottery in the world), while the latter printmaking has spread to other Inuit settlements. offers contemporary graphics and some sculpture Prints are made through a variety of techniques, in- from the Canadian Northwest Territories and Arctic cluding stonecut blocks, copper engraving, stencils,. Quebec. The Japanese exhibit shows the culture that and most recently, lithography. The results are often evolved slowly over thousands of years; the Inuit are very powerful. A bold sense of line, brilliant cororihg, reveals an artistic awakening of the past two decades. and fanciful subjects contribute to the impact which "Image and Life: 50,000 Years of Japanese Pre- these prints have. The effects achieved in some of the History" was-initiated and organized by the Museum of prints are remarkably complex, especially when one Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. considers the painstaking process of carving a prin- The pieces in the show, many of which have not been ter's block in soapstone. "Tuktu of Tasikjuk," a print let out of Japan before, are groaped into four periods: the Paleolithic (50,000 B.C. - 11,000 B.C.), the Jomon (11,000 B.C. - 300 B.C.), the Yayoi (300 B.C. - 300 A.D.), and the Kofun or Tumulus Ago (300 A.D. - 600 A.D.). The progression through this great expanse of Japanese history is fascinating, for although each -period clearly- builds upon its predecessors, each establishes distinctive traits. The Jomon for instance is known for its frequently flamboyant coil pottery, and it in fact derives its name from a cord patterning often used on the ceramic surfaces. The Yayoi period brought about such innovations as rice cultivation and Kananginak wheel-thrown pottery. showing two caribou, illustrated this sensitivity for The Kofun era is identified with the massive imperial subtleties of color and texture. burial sites constructed by its people. Excavations of In' addition to the purely aesthetic value of the Inuit these tombs have unearthed thousands of clay graphic art, the prints convey to us a sense of the ar- figurines, known as ' haniwa: The haniwa aremarked tists' world. Many prints depict scenes of the hunt, by a charming, often comic cimplicity, yet certain while others show us features of the desolate arctic details of dress along with clay "props" (tools, landscape. The absence of backgrounds in the prints weapons, etc.) show the various occupations of the reflects a land perpetually blanketed in snow. Kofun people. The freshness and skill seen in these Another common theme is the representation of figurines is extraordinary, considering the primitive folktales and local legends, often illustrated as per- conditions under which they were produced. sonal dreams or visions of the artist. The sea-goddess, "Image and Life" has a greater anthropological rn,, -11 - -, Christian fell By MARY FINN Two young women kiss tenderly as the lights dim in warning that the per- formance is about to start. Hand in hand, they turn their eyes to the stage. After a warmup act and plugs for women's music, the announcer finally introduces Meg Christian-a feminist singer, songwriter and guitarist-to the Tuesday night crowd at Pioneer High School's auditorium. And oh, she is so cute! in her black tuxedo trousers with suspenders reaching over a soft mauve bl'ouse! She's rolled her sleeves in preparation, and sunters up to the microphone, grin- ning. "Just imagine we're all sitting around on little pillows. . . eating little' cookies," she says with a pinch of southern drawl. She smiles. We smile back and shiift in our uncomfortable seats. HER VOICE RISES strong and clear, following the path her fingers make on the guitar strings. She creates her beat from half dance steps, half march steps; her feet playing with the music. Immediately we are at ease. She asks us to join in and sing, and we do, softly, for she is the focus. Christian stands straight, proud and confident, her 10 years of singing ex- perience carrying her well. She makes us laugh between and during her songs, with her friendly chatter and lively face. Endearing and child-like, Christian's facial expressions convey more warmth and emotion than her lyrics and melodies combined. HER MUSIC CENTERS on women; their strengths and weaknesses, hopes and fears, loves and desires. Yet somehow we do not get the feeling she disregards men. (In a crowd of more than 300, only about five men are in evidence.) Much of her message is for the lesbian community, however, and straight men and women may be in- timidated and confused by her frankness. Honest enough to reveal her recent battle with alcoholism, Christian sings token songs for the Los Angeles-based Alcoholism Center for Women that helped her pull her life back together. Modestly putting down her guitar playing expertise, she nonetheless plucks out a few intricate instrumen- tals, and some arresting melodies, about half of which are her own com- positions. The first guitar major at the Univer- sity of North Carolina (1969), Christian worked as a night club singer in the Washington, D.C. area for a few years. Dissatisfied with the songs she was singing and their limited portrayal of women 'in love' or ''Brokenhearted', Christian decided to do something to change the scene. A consciousness- raising group (remember those?) triggered her awareness of the lack of Owship music for women. She began a crusade with the women's movement and soon after, the gay movement, writing and performing, songs to tell women 9ot to be afraid to love each other openly. Her performance is vibrant, and we enjoy ourselves singing along and har- monizing, even if we do not know the lyrics. She is charming and clever, winding down her performance to a grass-roots acappela clap-along. No one is sitting for this encore, and the two women in the front row, arms around each other's waists, kiss again and smile. Michelangelo Antonioni's 1961 BLOW UP The notorious film that made Nikon a household word, BLOW UP covers both dated trends and timeless questions. Set amid the mod styles of mid-60's London, a young, aggressive fashion photographer in total control of his images is puzzled by a chance event he catches on film-a murder. Anto- nioni's first English film. With DAVID HAMMINGS, VANESSA REDGRAVE' and the YARDBIRDS. Fri: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT TONIGHT AT OLD ARCH. AUD. CIN EMA GU ILD 7:0&:0 $- .50 Polar Bear and Cub in Ice slant than is usual for exhibits at the art museum. Em- phasis is frequeftly placed on the developing technology as seen in clay cooking vessels, stone far- ming tools, and bronze weapons. Evidence for an early religion may be found in cast bronze bells which ar- chaeologists speculate may have been objects of wor- ship. The artifacts-"Image and Life," whether inten- ded for religious, agricultural, or household use, show an early society's efforts to gain control over nature. The Inuit show is quite a change from the Japanese exhibit, although its images indicate an equally Taleelayu, is a particularly common subject. The Inuit's dependence on the sea for food explains Taleelayu's frequent appearance. It is unusual for modern innovations to -be shown, although occasionally a print will include elements of a more "advanced" technology. One print depicts a helicopter landing. Usually, however, traditional themes have been translated to the printing medium. The sculptures displayed complement the prints, depicting similar themes. Some pieces are very comical, as in the case of a man who has literally put his foot in his mouth. Many works seem to take their dorms from the grain and color of the stone from which they are carved. Both "Image and Life" and "The Inuit Print" are first-rate exhibitions which demonstrate for us the variety of human creativity. They are not merely art shows, but also sociological studies. Both exhibits are beautifully displayed, and are supplemented each af- ternoon (except Saturdays) at two o'clock by films on the ground floor of the museum. "Image and Life" runs until November 4, and "The Inuit Print" is here through October 14. A conference on contemporary Inuit graphics (Sept. 27-29) as well as a mini-course have been planned in conjunction with the exhibit. Julliard Quartet has an off night By DAN EHRENKRAN TZ The Juillard String Quartet plays more than 125 concerts each year, and for each concert to exhibit the best of the quartet's abilities, each member would have to be super-human. A group as well regarded as the Juilliard must be given the benefit of any doubt and excused an occasional off-night. Unfortunately, an off-night occured upon Juilliard's third appearance in Ann Arbor in the past 17 years last Monday night. The quartet seen Monday was quite different from the one that performed here in 1962. The only remaining mem- ber from the original group is first violinist Robert Mann. The old Julliard establshed itself as one of the finest quartets in the world. Judging from their concert here, the new group is not worthy of that reputation. The program consisted of Haydn's quartet in D major Op. 20, No. 4, Berg's Lyric Suite, the A, minor quartet of Brahms, Op. 51, No. 2 and, for an encore, the Andante from Beethovens Op. 18, No. 4. THE HAYDN WAS given a rather bland reading. The first two movemen- ts were especially lifeless. The Menuet- to however, did have Haydnesque fire and spirit which carried over to the last movement. On the whole, the Haydn lacked the articulation and the penetrating musicality that groups such as the Tokyo String Quartet and the Quartetto Italino bring to the work. Berg's Lyric Suite is a very difficult work, both musically and technically. Parts of the piece were handled well; the third movement "allegro misterioso" was played with the air and feeling suggested by the title. The piece was marred however, by technical mishaps. Intonation was not always secure and at one point, Mann hit a note obviously flat and had to slide his finger up a full half-step in order to correct it. Though partly due to the intellectual orientation of the piece, this listener was left feeling cold at the end of its performance. The Brahms was the evening's most rewarding piece. It was played with the fullness and ' thickness required for a successful reading of any Brahms work. The slow movement was played with the musical feeling that was ab- sent from the other works; the last movement was performed with ex- eitement and conviction. The group was able to produce a full tone, filling the hall with a mellow, resonant sound. Famous for their. Beethoven ren- ditions, the Julliard played the encore, Andanie, with musical insights worthy of the finest of quartets. The tonal coloration was fitting for Beethoven, though it lacked the crispness and the refined ensemble playing of the Quar- tetto Italiano. The Julliard Quartet has obviously thought through this work for many years and has come to an excep- tionally mature understanding of it. Join the Arts Page Jr & Sr Minority Engineering Students (Mex.-Amer., Black Amer., Amer. Indian, P. Rican) SUMMER WORK is available with one of 20 employers PLUS A FELLOWSHIP for MASTER'S degree at one of 27 universitites.