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)
CANCELLED — 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) — Cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances
June 25: Pao Noriega (Indigenous Andean Ñusta Paqo, Mesa Carrier, Original Peoples Advocate, conscious coach, and knowledge keeper)
Tour in Spanish/Visita guiada en español | 6 pm
Tour in English | 7 pm
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.
Kūn Jáad, whose given name is Dana Simeon, is the daughter of Jut-Ke-Nay (Hazel Wilson) and granddaughter of Grace Bell Wilson DeWitt. She is a descendant of the house of Duugwaa St’Langng7laanaas and the second youngest of her mother’s ten children.