Raven travelling

BAIDA ART has long been recognized as one of the shining achievements of North America’s First Nations, on display in art galleries and museums around the world. But for too long this extraordinary art has been discussed with little reference to its creators or their homeland. With its dramatic land and sea forms, Haida Gwaii—the Queen Charlotte Islands, to some—has influenced the Haida’s world view and artistic expression since time immemorial. The Haida developed their unique formline art there five centuries ago, and despite the ravages of colonial rule, it has seen an extraordinary renaissance in the last half century.
Published to coincide with a major exhibition celebrating the Vancouver Art Gallery’s 75th anniversary, Raven Travelling features 140 colour photos of Haida masterpieces from the last two centuries, from exquisitely carved totem poles and masks to remarkable pipes, plates and baskets. The works come from collections across the world, including the Seattle Art Museum; Portland Art Museum; Vancouver Museum; Royal Ontario Museum; McMichael Canadian Art Collection; Canadian Museum of Civilization; Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford; National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.; American Museum of Natural History, New York; Field Museum, Chicago; Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge; Royal B.C. Museum, Victoria; Haida Gwaii Museum at Qay’llnagaay; Glenbow Museum, Calgary;
McCord Museum, Montreal; Alaska State Museum; Brooklyn Museum of Art; Buffalo Museum of Science; UBC Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver; Vancouver Art Gallery and many private collections.
The wide-ranging text includes excerpts from ancient Raven myths, among them a new telling of the creation story by Skidegate elders; a poem by Haida carver and political leader Guujaaw; a poem and an essay on colonialization by legendary artist Bill Reid; reflections on the land by actress and filmmaker Marianne Jones; a speech on reclaiming Haida culture by artist Robert Davidson; an impassioned history of Haida Gwaii by curator Nika Collison; a look at the evolution of Haida art by scholar Peter Macnair; an interview with weaver Isabel Rorick; the remarkable story of the repatriation of Haida ancestors told by two of the main participants, Vince Collison and Lucille Bell; and interviews with three innovative contemporary artists, Robert Davidson, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and Don Yeomans.
Lavishly illustrated and passionately written,
Raven Travelling situates Haida art where it has always belonged, inseparable from its people and at the very apex of the great accomplishments of human creativity.