Documentary backdrop image for Bill Reid (2023)

202328 minGdocumentary

art-history indigenous-histories

Bill Reid

202328 minGdocumentary

British Columbian Haida artist Bill Reid carves a totem pole from a cedar trunk as a gift to the Skidegate community on Haida Gwaii.

art-history indigenous-histories

Genres

Channel: NFB

Bill Reid

2023• 28 minG

Synopsis

British Columbian Haida artist Bill Reid carves a totem pole from a cedar trunk as a gift to the Skidegate community on Haida Gwaii.

Synopsis

British Columbian Haida artist Bill Reid, jeweller and wood carver, works on a totem pole in the Haida tradition. The film shows the gradual transformation of a bare cedar trunk into a richly carved pole, a gift from the artist to the people of Skidegate on Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands). Particularly moving is the raising of the pole by the villagers, as Bill Reid stands by.

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