Old roots grow new branches. The ancient aboriginal art of Canada's west coast is one of the definitive features of our national culture, and bright in that collection is Haida art. READ MORE...

It’s a set of awards quite unlike any seen before in Canada, both in scale and scope. The winners of the REVEAL Indigenous Art Awards have been announced, with 150 artists each receiving $10,000—for a total of $1.5 million in cash awards disbursed. The aim of this one-time-only REVEAL prize? To “fuel Indigenous arts practice for the next 150 years,” says the Hnatyshyn Foundation. Practitioners in a wide range of art forms are being honoured, including visual artists, media artists, craftspeople, musicians, writers, storytellers, dancers and actors. READ MORE...

Being an effective trickster takes more than irreverence to pull off. To do it well enough so you're not simply offending people, it means knowing and respecting the tradition you're working in. The trickster artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas works in old Haida visual and narrative traditions that he reframes in a contemporary way. READ MORE...

At the recent opening of his exhibition The Seriousness of Play, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas spoke eloquently to a packed room. Surrounded by his paintings, prints, and sculptures, he talked about the spaces that exist within and between art forms—and within and between cultures. He also touched on a contemporary problem for artists of indigenous descent: is this work art or ethnicity? The question, he said, had originally been posed to him by Bill Reid, who shared with Yahgulanaas mixed Haida and European heritage, but whose acclaim was focused entirely on his Haida-identified art-making. READ MORE...

We were invited to view the latest exhibit and works by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas at the Bill Reid Gallery in Downtown Vancouver. I was especially curious to see how Michael created pieces that fused influences of Japanese manga and anime with Haida, Aboriginal art. We learned many of MNY's work has not been seen in Vancouver before. There were many eye-catching pieces, and here are two pieces that stood out to us during our visit. READ MORE...

SEI is an equally stunning stainless steel sculpture that recalls the arc of a jumping salmon in the nearby McArthur Glen Designer Outlet. YVR's public collection of art - which includes Bill Reid's The Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Jade Canoe - is one of the reasons it consistently ranks among the top airports in the world. READ MORE...

A delegation consisting of representatives of various international organizations supporting the Indigenous Terra Madre (ITM) 2015 have urged Chief Minister Mukul Sangma to include traditional knowledge and traditional cuisine in the State educational curriculum, arguing that traditional cuisine can help youths connect to their roots. READ MORE...

Yahgulanaas’s work emblemizes different cultures joining, rather than clashing. He is always mindful of art as an active participant in a larger discussion, and always vigilant, even though his work is overwhelmingly playful and positive. READ MORE...

Seemingly defying gravity, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas' newly unveiled sculpture "Sei" rises from the ground at the centre of the new McArthurGlen outlet mall near YVR, before arching to one side, hanging motionless in the air. Named after the sei whale, the second-largest baleen whale species found in BC waters, Yahgulanaas' work evokes the form of its namesake in mid-breach. The abstract sculpture stands more than 12 feet tall, and stretches out almost as long as a school bus. READ MORE...

A blend of Indigenous art with Japanese manga dynamism isn't something you see every day -- but there's a high chance you already have. At both Kensington Park and the UBC Thunderbird Winter Sports Arena sit public art pieces by award-winning Haida Gwaii artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas. The newest art piece was unveiled on June 14 at McArthurGlen Outlet Mall at the Vancouver International Airport. READ MORE...

Artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas has designed a new stainless steel sculpture that recalls natural forms such as the curve of a jumping whale or salmon. The public art work is made from highly polished stainless steel. In contrast to those reflective surfaces is the underside of the 12-metre long sculpture which is covered in copper leaf. “Yes, it’s like a whale jumping or a salmon jumping,” Yahgulanaas said in a phone interview. READ MORE...

Visitors to Vancouver Airport's new luxury mall will be greeted by a 3,855 kilogram steel sculpture called SEI. The public art installation by acclaimed visual artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is his largest work yet and one of his favourites. "Sometimes when I walk away from a project I'm never quite sure. I'm always thinking I could have done things differently. This one is a slam dunk," Yahgulanaas told The Early Edition's Rick Cluff. READ MORE...

You might not know his name, but if you've ever driven down Knight Street or passed by UBC's Thunderbird Winter Sports Arena, you've definitely seen his work. Contemporary artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas' latest piece, SEI, won't be unveiled until later this summer, but the Georgia Straight was invited to see the piece just as the finishing touches were being made. READ MORE...

Stories about whales are generally epic, and this one, which starts with a napkin sketch and ends with the 5,500-kilogram creature making an overland voyage to the West Coast, is no exception. The whale in this case is a steel, copper-bellied piece of public art currently being installed outside the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver Airport following a four-month gestation period in a southeast Calgary industrial park. READ MORE...

To complement this big show, Brotherton has organized a smaller but still potent exhibition of Northwest Coast art drawn from local private collections. In addition to some exquisite old pieces in stone, silver and wood, there are contemporary contributions. A standout is “Red” by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, a mural comprised of individual watercolors done in a powerful, graphic blend of Haida style and Japanese manga. READ MORE...

A sculpture commissioned from Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas by the city of Kamloops celebrates confluence of the North and South Thompson Rivers in Kamloops. This confluence goes on to form the largest tributary of the Fraser River. This new sculpture echoes of the exhilarating form of Yahgulanaas's 2010 sculpture at Thunderbird Arena at the University of British Columbia. READ MORE...

A sculpture by artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas for Kamloops that recreates the moment before the North and South Thompson join and become the single Thompson River was put together and raised for the first time Wednesday at a metal fabricating plant in Delta. Called Rivers, the soaring steel and aluminum sculpture is more than 10 metres tall. At the top, representing the two arms of the river, are stylized female swimmers in copper leaf. READ MORE...

Some master stone and chisel, others conquer pigment and brush. In his copper-glowing artworks, Michael Nicholl Yahgulanaas is the planet's foremost expert on making art from the metal sunroof panels of 1992 Volvos. As glib as that description sounds, his "Haida Manga guy" work not only glows with beauty, but actually follows a trail of discussable substance going back to his days as a B.C. activist, author and cartoonist for underground political magazines. READ MORE...

Vancouver's public-art scene just got a little edgier with "Abundance Fenced" by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas. The First Nations artist fuses Northwest Coast motifs with Japanese graphics, which he's dubbed "Haida Manga." The sculpture, atop a retaining wall at the Knight Street and 33rd Avenue intersection, depicts orcas pursuing salmon and is inspired by the bountiful Fraser River salmon run of 2010. READ MORE...

One of the city’s newest public art works is a 43-metre-long steel sculpture inspired by the record-setting 2010 Fraser River Salmon run. Abundance Fenced is located at Knight Street and 33rd Avenue along the top of a concrete retaining wall beside Kensington Park. It serves as a decorative railing beside the pedestrian path. READ MORE...