Le pinceau et la plume

The Orenda Gallery, Paris, France

Gallery front, Orenda Gallery, Paris, France

The three works on paper presented in the fall group exhibition at Orenda Gallery are part of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas’s ongoing Maktali series. The Maktali works explore the intersections of Indigenous knowledge, storytelling, and global visual languages, inviting viewers to move fluidly between cultural contexts while remaining rooted in Haida forms and histories.

The black framelines of the Maktali series were originally carved into a linoleum sheet that has since been destroyed. Only fourteen impressions of these framelines were made, and each work is hand-coloured, making every piece a unique original. Just four impressions have been released for sale (one of which is held by Madrona Gallery, Victoria, B.C.), while the rest remain in the artist’s studio.

This highly personal and experimental series is not intended for broader circulation in the art market; the release of these select works marks the occasion of Yahgulanaas’s privileged entry into the Musée du quai Branly–Jacques Chirac. Quai Branly purchased nine Yahgulanaas paintings for their permanent collection in 2025.