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Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Windspeaker.com
The work of a multidisciplinary Haida artist will be on display in Vancouver for the next year.
The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art will be premiering the Kihl ‘Yahda Christian White: Master Haida Artist exhibition on Feb. 1.
The exhibit will continue until Feb. 1 of 2026.
“As a master Haida carver, cultural ambassador, and mentor, Christian White has made an indelible impact on his community and beyond over the last 50 years, yet this is the first time his artworks have been featured as part of a major retrospective exhibition,” said Bill Reid Gallery curator Aliya Boubard. “We are thrilled to bring this highly anticipated showcase to life this winter, through the guest curation of Sdahl Ḵ'awaas Lucy Bell, member of the Tsiits Gitanee Haida Eagle clan, along with her daughter Gudangee X͟ahl Kil Amelia Rea, who is also Christian’s niece.”
Showcasing more than 40 pieces of art by White, visitors will have the opportunity to view the progression of his art from his pre-teen years until now.
The 62-year-old has worked in many different mediums including wood, copper, print and regalia.
Some of his work includes totem pole carving, canoe building, argillite carving and long house construction.
“My house was right next to the totem pole,” said White, who remembers the day it was erected in honour of a community member. “That’s been a big inspiration for me all my life.”
Known as Northwest Coast Art, it is distinguished by the use of formline design and characteristic shapes called ovoids.
This form of art can be found on totem poles, canoes, long houses and even household items.
“All of our household items were carved with our designs and crests,” said White, adding carving was profound in his community prior to settlement.
“As I was growing up though, there was very little of that in my community left, most of that stuff had been taken by the missionaries and other collectors,” he said.
Thus, there were little references to go by.
“We had a couple of books while I was growing up and so all we had was our genetic memories,” White said.
Since White was a young boy he watched as his father carve, inspiring him to follow the Haida traditions.
“My father started carving in his 40s, so that’s how we were brought up,” he said. “We watched him carve on medallions and things like that and jewelry and we got to help him. He’s my biggest inspiration as I was growing up.”
When he got a bit older he began to venture out and meet with Elders in the community who would share their carvings and traditional techniques.
“I basically grew up in the resurgence of the art,” he added.
These meetings proved successful for White and allowed him to “make a decent living” when he was only 17 years old.
Throughout the years White was included in various exhibitions alongside many of the masters of this artform.
Some highlights of his works on display in the exhibition include Raven Copper Shield (1976), one of White’s earliest carved copper works at age 14; Raven Transformation (2022), a large transformational mask that opens up to reveal a series of intricate inner masks; and House Box (2024), the latest in a series of stunning bentwood boxes that will be featured in the exhibition.
The exhibition will also spotlight White’s role as a founding member of the Haida Repatriation Committee for which he has traveled extensively to help bring home the remains of more than 500 Haida Ancestors, where they are laid to rest with honour in their homeland of Haida Gwaii.
White also worked with his apprentices to create bentwood chests for the repatriated ancestors to be honoured and buried.
The committee has also engaged with some of the 12,000 Haida Belongings held in museums worldwide, bringing inspiration and knowledge back to their community.
“Over the years, what I’ve done is mainly carved argillite which is a stone that is only carved by the Haida people and is found on the mountain here on the highway,” he said, adding these carving have taken place for 300 years.
Items carved from the stone include ceremonial objects such as pipes and later tourist items such as miniature totem poles.
Throughout his career White has really connected with his community and has undertaken the role of teacher.
“For the last 25 years I’ve been teaching young people here,” he said, adding he teaches the youth of his community how to carve masks, ceremonial masks, cedar boxes and make regalia, rattles and drums.
“We also learn the language, the songs and dances,” he added.
One of his apprentices, Danielle Louise Allard, a graduate from the Ottawa School of Art, has been working with White for the past several years and said she has learned both Haida art and traditions from him.
What started as a position where she would help White with her knowledge of computers and administrative duties, has grown into learning about her own artistic skills.
“I did a lot of drawing for him the first couple months and then I started this really large box project,” she said. “It was funded by First Peoples Cultural Council and it was painting 40 boxes but it ended up being 39 boxes that were all gifted.”
That was her introduction to formline and painting.
Although she views herself as a painter, this past year she has started a few 3D projects.
She said working with White has allowed her to explore these different mediums and really test her own skills and interests.
“I think some of my biggest takeaways from him is to dream big,” she said. “He kind of always has a vision that I think he keeps mainly in himself but I get little tidbits of what he wants to do in the future and it encourages me to think that way as well.”
She has also played a big role in helping the curators find pieces they wanted to include in the upcoming show from different resources.
“It has been a lot of work but it has been pretty enjoyable being able to be part of it,” she said, adding she has also been key in contributing to the writing and editing of the content for each of the pieces as well as photographing White while he is creating.
Throughout the year the Bill Reid Gallery will be hosting a series of public programs featuring White and his apprentices will support the exhibition during its yearlong run, with artist talks, a panel discussion and art demonstrations.