Bill Reid Foundation

Totems to Turquoise: native north american jewellery arts of the northwest and southwest

When: October 27, 2006 – March 25, 2007
Where: Vancouver Museum in Vanier Park (Kitsilano), Vancouver B.C.
Projected Attendance: 40,000 - 50,000 visitors during the five-month exhibition.

The exhibition – bringing it home: Why are we so passionate about bringing Totems to Turquoise to Vancouver? It’s simple. Such an exhibition might never be mounted again. This is an astonishing celebration of Native American jewellery with all its roots, beauty and power. In over 500 individual pieces, the exhibition honours thousands of years of culture and experience – much of it the experience of the coastal peoples of British Columbia. We will see how techniques, materials, styles – even Native jewellers themselves - are still evolving, transforming traditional crafts into a body of art that is now among the finest ever created.

From artifacts to contemporary art: Totems to Turquoise showcases extraordinary artwork from the Northwest Haida, Kwakwaka’wakw, Tsimshian, Gitxsan, Nisga’a, Tlingit, Nuu-chah-nulth, Nuxalk, Heiltsuk, Haisla, and Coast Salish tribes, along with the southwest desert art of Zuni, Hopi, Santo Domingo, Taos, other Pueblos, Navajo, and Apache. It contains over 100 objects from the American Museum of Natural History’s irreplaceable collection of artifacts, as well as recent totem sculptures, traditional and modern masks, and photographs and videos. (Read more About the Art in The Exhibition, 140KB PDF)

Bringing this show to Vancouver will be a real homecoming for the art of Masters such as Charles Edenshaw, Bill Reid, and Robert Davidson (all from our Northwest Coast), along with a rare chance to see the work of southwest masters Charles Loloma, Preston Monongye, and Kenneth Begay. Their art is made all the more vivid when you see the brilliant contemporary works they inspired, including a striking totem pole created by Jim Hart (a Hereditary Chief of the Haida Nation), and the exquisite Grandfather and Grandmother Turtle necklace by Jesse Monongya (the Navajo jeweller whose inlay work is considered to be among the finest today).

The publication: A lavish art book of 224 pages, filled with full-color photographs and enlightening text. The core of the book consists of personal statements by 39 artists, who discuss their lives, their beliefs, and their approach to art- and jewelry-making. Lavish illustrations, both historical images and new photographs by noted photographer Togashi, bring the subject to life, while supporting texts by general editor Kari Chalker, curators Lois Sherr Dubin and Peter M. Whiteley, Haida artist Jim Hart, and anthropologist Martine Reid provide background and insight. Totems to Turquoise will be an important resource for students, scholars, and designers, as well as anyone who loves beautiful and well-made objects.

The curators: Totems to Turquoise: Native North American Jewellery Arts of the Northwest and Southwest was co-curated in New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles by Peter Whiteley, Curator of North American Ethnology in the Museum’s Division of Anthropology, and Lois Dubin, author of authoritative books on Native American jewelry. Artists Jim Hart (Director, Bill Reid Foundation) and Jesse Monongya explain in detail how Northwest Coast and the Southwest cultures continue to communicate beliefs and traditions through visual adornment.

Let's make it happen: The Bill Reid Foundation and Vancouver Museum are thrilled to be bringing Totems to Turquoise to Vancouver, where much of it began. The Bill Reid Foundation has secured over half the funds it needs for this exhibition through its Donor of the Day program. It is seeking 50 more donors and we hope you or your firm will become one of them.