Raven Transforms

Gary Wyatt represented master-level Northwest Coast, Inuit, and Māori artists for thirty-five years, including Christian White from 1987 to 2019. He was curator of Northwest Coast Art for the Inuit Gallery of Vancouver for eight years and co-founded the Spirit Wrestler Gallery in 1995. He has curated many groundbreaking exhibitions of contemporary Northwest Coast art, lectured extensively on the art form internationally, and authored several catalogues and books, including Echoes of the Supernatural: The Graphic Art of Robert Davidson (2022), Susan Point: Works on Paper (2014), and Seekers and Travellers: Contemporary Art of the Pacific Northwest Coast (2012).Kihl’yahda Christian White has been a working Haida artist for the past five decades and is widely acknowledged as a master carver. His practice comprises sculptural works in argillite and other materials, as well as monumental cedar works such as totem poles and canoes. As the founder of the Tluu X̱aada Naay (Canoe People’s House) Society, a group of artisans committed to preserving and enhancing Haida culture, he is very active in the Haida community: hosting and participating in ceremonies and Potlatches, including many held at his Tluu X̱aada Naay Longhouse; serving on cultural and repatriation committees; and sharing his knowledge and skills through the mentorship of young Haida artists. In 2007, he received the inaugural Fulmer Award in First Nations Art from the B.C. Creative Achievement Foundation, and in 2023, he and Candace Weir-White received a B.C. Achievement Foundation Community Award for their work as cultural leaders, language carriers, mentors, and community ambassadors. He lives in G̱aw Tlagée, Haida Gwaii.Karen Duffek is Curator Emerita and an Honorary Associate with the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (MOA) and an independent curator, writer, and editor. As Curator of Contemporary Visual Arts and Pacific Northwest at MOA from 2000 to 2025, she supported the activation of Northwest Coast Indigenous collections inside and outside the museum, and her research, exhibitions, and publications focused on the relationships between historical and contemporary art practices, museum collections, communities, and art markets. She is the author and co-author of many books, including most recently Where the Power Is: Indigenous Perspectives on Northwest Coast Art (with Bill McLennan and Jordan Wilson; Figure 1 Publishing, 2021).