Portland Art Museum to Showcase LAIKA's Works

HILLSBORO, OR – While it has never scored an Oscar award (despite several nominations), Hillsboro-based animation studio LAIKA has gotten some well-deserved recognition lately.

Following two Oscar nominations for its most recent feature film, Kubo and the Two Strings, the studio last week announced it had made a merchandising agreement with Striker Entertainment to commercially license its products; and this week the Portland Art Museum and Northwest Film Center announced a seven-month LAIKA-centric exhibition titled “Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA,” running October 14 to May 20, 2018.

Owned by Nike co-founder Phil Knight and managed by his son Travis, LAIKA has produced four features since it was founded in 2005: Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), The Boxtrolls (2014), ParaNorman (2012), and Coraline (2009).

In a statement from the museum, Director and Chief Curator Brian Ferriso expressed his excitement to partner with LAIKA and share its unique style of stop-motion animation and art with Portland region fans.

"LAIKA at its core is an artistic endeavor that embraces the past and infuses it with a 21st-century vision," Ferriso said. "LAIKA's aesthetic vocabulary continues to be shaped by the people and uniqueness of this special state."

The exhibit will include behind-the-scenes photos, video clips and artwork from LAIKA films, a glimpse into LAIKA animators' creative processes, and an opportunity to explore the production design, sets, props, puppets, costumes, and world-building that has set LAIKA apart from other animation studios.

"We believe storytelling is an important part of who we are," said Travis Knight, president & CEO of LAIKA, in the museum's statement. "LAIKA embraces our great privilege to tell stories by creating films that bring people together, kindle imaginations and inspire people to dream. We are proud to be able to showcase our creative process through this partnership with the Portland Art Museum, one of the country's greatest art institutions, and the Northwest Film Center. Art in its finest forms speaks to our shared humanity, opening us up to new ways of thinking and feeling and helping us to recognize the hidden connectivity of all things. With this exhibit, LAIKA, (the Portland Museum of Art), and the Northwest Film Center have created something that can be part of that communal process of change and connection."

Photo Courtesy: LAIKA