CANCELLED: Please note that the Trouble in Paradise Tours on May 21 + 22 have been cancelled due to illness. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Trouble in Paradise: Climate Change in the Pacific explores the deep relationships between cultural and biological diversity in the context of environmental changes across the Pacific.

Through photographs by Pacific Islanders and selected highlights from MOA’s collections, the tour reflects on how rising seas, changing ecosystems, and resilient communities are reshaping life across the region. Together, participants are invited to consider the complex ways in which cultural knowledge and biodiversity are intertwined, and what these relationships mean to all humanity in a time of global climate change.

The tour is limited to 25 people; first-come, first-served.

Schedule
Thursday May 21 | 12 pm
Friday May 22 | 12 pm

Biodiversity Days is a month-long event in May, to honour the International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22) with a series of engagement opportunities that aim to celebrate and raise awareness of the fragile species, genes and ecosystems that sustain our communities.

Bio

Mitiana Arbon is the Curator of the Pacific and the Ceramics Collection Program Coordinator at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC. His work bridges cultural institutions and Pacific communities, grounded in the values of service, community, and cultural representation. With a background in Pacific Studies and Museum Studies from the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Mitiana has long been passionate about creating pathways for Pacific communities within educational and cultural institutions.

Tupananchiskama: Ancient Andean Cosmovision explores the enduring worldviews of ancient Andean civilizations through nearly 100 exquisite pre-Columbian ceramic, textile, bone and wood works, some dating back more than 2,500 years.

These works were collected by former UBC Professor Alan R. Sawyer and donated to MOA. This exhibition highlights Andean cosmovision—a holistic and spiritual understanding of the universe grounded in reciprocity, balance, and the recognition of nature as a living being. Far more than artistic objects, the belongings on display embody relationships between humans, ancestors, and sacred forces.

These 45-minute Not Your Average Tours invite visitors to encounter Tupananchiskama through the perspectives of specialists in ceramics, Andean cosmology, and collecting history, offering layered insights into the objects, their meanings, and the complex journeys that brought them to the museum.

Capacity of 25 people per tour; first come, first served.

Schedule
Select Thursdays | 7 pm

April 30: Carol Sawyer (visual artist and daughter of Alan Reed Sawyer and Erika H Sawyer whose donated collection form the basis of the exhibition)

May 28: Dr. Alexandra M. Peck (inaugural Audain Chair in Historical Indigenous Art & Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Art History, Visual Art, & Theory)

June 25: Pao Noriega (Indigenous Andean Ñusta Paqo, Mesa Carrier, Original Peoples Advocate, conscious coach, and knowledge keeper)

September 24: Dr. Aleksa Alaica (Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Anthropology).

Bios

Carol Sawyer (she/her) is a visual artist and singer working with photography, installation, video, and improvised music. Since the early 1990’s her visual art work has investigated the connections between photography and fiction, performance, memory, and history. Collection donations from her parents, Alan Reed Sawyer and Erika H Sawyer, form the basis of the exhibition.

Dr. Alexandra M. Peck serves as the inaugural Audain Chair in Historical Indigenous Art & Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Art History, Visual Art, & Theory. She is an anthropologist and material culture specialist with a research focus on Pacific Northwest Native art, archaeology, and geography.

Pao Noriega is an Indigenous Andean Ñusta Paqo, Mesa Carrier, Original Peoples Advocate, conscious coach, and knowledge keeper born in Peru and initiated into the sacred Q’ero lineage. She carries the Quechua, Aymara, and Amazonian roots of her ancestors and shares their teachings with integrity and devotion. Her work bridges ancestral Earth based technology with modern science for healing and transformation.

Aleksa K. Alaica is Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. She is an anthropological archaeologist interested in the interactions between humans and animals in the Andes. She investigates the way different animal species influenced and shaped past cultures, with much of her work examining Moche material culture, animal bone remains, and their rich iconographic record.

Looking for fun, enriching experiences for the whole family? Join MOA on the last Sunday of each month for Culture Club! This series offers young visitors artful learning opportunities, allowing families to get creative and connect with MOA’s diverse collections and exhibitions.

Culture Club sessions are free with museum admission.

Schedule

Culture Club at MOA takes place on the last Sunday of the month from 11 am to 2 pm.

Upcoming

May 31: Puppet-Palooza

Past Events

September 28: Imprints for Truth and Reconciliation
October 26: Lighting Our Path Together
November 30: Harvest Centrepieces
January 25: Making Memories for the New Year
February 22: Familiar Ephemera
March 29: Sunshine Seekers
April 26: Street Smart Street Art

Culture Club at MOA is made possible by the generous support of UBC Campus + Community Planning

Art Club at MOA is a new monthly evening series for adults who are curious about using craft as a way to connect—both with the Museum’s collections and exhibitions, and with one another. Part creative workshop, part social gathering, Art Club offers a relaxed space to slow down, experiment, and make meaning through art.

Each Art Club is inspired by an ongoing exhibition at MOA, inviting participants to explore its themes through hands-on artistic practice.

Art Club sessions are free and located in the Cedar Café at MOA (does not include admission into the museum).

Limited supplies; first come, first served.

Schedule

Monthly, on select Thursday evenings.

Upcoming

April 23: Coming Together
May 21: Biodiversity Day

Past Events

January 15: Trouble in Paradise
February 12: Everyone Says I Look Like My Mother
March 26: Tupananchiskama