Dossier 2 (9.19) - Pole raising in Haida Gwaii

In spring of 1983, Karen Duffek received her Masters of Arts in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia with a thesis titled The Contemporary Northwest Coast Indian Art Market. Karen Duffek’s relationship with the Museum of Anthropology has spanned over twenty years. From 1985 through 1999, Duffek was a Guest Curator and Research Associate, during which time she worked closely with Marjorie Halpin. In 1999, she took on a role as Interim Manager in Administration at MOA. In 2000, she was hired by the Museum of Anthropology as a Curator of Contemporary Visual Arts & the Pacific Northwest. Since 1985, Duffek has published numerous articles, essays, and anthologies addressing issues in Native Art. She has written multiple exhibition catalogues, including The Transforming Image: Painted Arts of Northwest Coast First Nations (UBC Press, 2000), which she co-authored with Bill McLennan. The Transforming Image won the Canadian Museum Association’s 2001 Award for Outstanding Achievement in Publications, and the British Columbia Historical Federation’s Certificate of Merit for Historical Writing in 2000. In 2005, Karen Duffek co-edited the anthology, Bill Reid and Beyond: Expanding on Modern Native Art (Douglas & McIntyre, 2004).

As the Curator of Contemporary Visual Arts & the Pacific Northwest, Karen Duffek has curated some major exhibitions at the Museum of Anthropology, including Border Zones: New Art across Cultures (2010), and Robert Davidson: The Abstract Edge (2004).