Primrose Adams (1926 – January 2020) was a Canadian

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

artist and member of the Raven Clan from the

Haida Haida may refer to: Haida people Many uses of the word derive from the name of an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. * Haida people, an Indigenous ethnic group of North America (Canada) ** Council of the Haida Nati ...

nation. She wove hats and baskets in the Haida method and is most notable for her spruce root basketry, which involves working in the traditional manner of collecting and dyeing her own spruce root. Adams died in January 2020.

Personal life and family

As the granddaughter of celebrated Haida artists

Charles Edenshaw Charles Edenshaw (–1920) was a Haida people, Haida artist"Master Artists: Ch ...

(1839–1920) and Isabella Edenshaw (1842–1926) and the daughter of Haida artists Florence Davidson and Robert Davidson, Adams comes from a family of distinguished Haida artists. After marrying her husband, Victor, Adams learned the art of basket-weaving from her mother-in-law, Haida artist Selina Peratrovich (1890–1984), starting in 1977. Adams' daughter, Isabel Rorick (born 1955) is also an acclaimed weaver, carrying on a family tradition now spanning five generations.

Career and achievements

Adams' work resides in several public collections, including the

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, the

Museum of Anthropology at UBC The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada displays world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations in Canada, First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. As well ...

in Vancouver, the

Douglas Reynolds Gallery Douglas Reynolds Gallery is an art gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the Business Improvement Area of South Granville. The gallery was founded in 1995 by Douglas Reynolds. History Douglas Reynolds Gallery special ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Lattimer Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1981 Adams wove a hat for her nephew, distinguished Haida artist Robert Davidson. Davidson honored Adams in return in his diptych ''The Seven Ravens,'' which depicted ravens representing his seven aunts, including Adams. Adam was acknowledged by Davidson again in his ''Fifty Years of Haida Weaving: The Robert Davidson Collection'' exhibition in 2009. Adams was included in Sharon J. Busby's 2003 ''Spruce-Root Baskets of the Haida and Tlingit'', a nonfiction book about Haida and Tlingit traditional craft. In 2005, Adams featured in the ''Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 2'' exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, New York. 2006 found Adams' work presented at the Vancouver Art Gallery's ''Raven Travelling: Two Centuries of Haida Art'' exhibition. The 2010/2011 exhibition ''Signed Without Signature: Works by Charles and Isabella Edenshaw'' at the UBC Museum of Anthropology attested to the artistic strength of Adams' ancestors, and she and three other matrilineal descendants of the Edenshaws attended its opening. In 2011 Adams was awarded the British Columbia Creative Lifetime Achievement Award for First Nations' Art. In 2017, she is set to be featured in the ' exhibition at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, which will display works by recipients of the British Columbia Creative Lifetime Achievement Award for First Nations' Art from 2007 to 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Primrose 1926 births 2020 deaths 20th-century First Nations artists 20th-century First Nations women 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations artists 21st-century First Nations women Artists from British Columbia First Nations basket weavers Haida women artists Haida artists Canadian women basket weavers Canadian basket weavers First Nations women artists