Shaping the Future Through Tradition
Now Open
Included with any admission.
Floor 1, Northwest Coast Hall, Contemporary Art Gallery
Produced with guest curator Michael Bourquin (Tāłtān/Gitxsan), a filmmaker from Iskut First Nation, this exhibition showcases works by artists who are redefining how their stories are told using diverse and contemporary mediums.
“Today, a new generation of Indigenous artists is expanding the boundaries of cultural expression, blending ancestral knowledge with contemporary forms of media. Their work honors the past while boldly shaping the future. This exhibit creates a space that both complements and contrasts the historical art of Indigenous culture, offering fresh perspectives rooted in continuity, resilience, and innovation.”
Michael Bourquin
Guest Curator
Tāłtān/Gitxsan
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Included with any admission.
Featured Artists
Break
Medium: Music (Music Videos)
Statement:
My name is Nang SG̲áan K'ajúu, “The One who is the Killerwhale Singer,” or Kristi Lane Sinclair. I am a Haida/Cree musician from the Yagulaanaas Clan, currently running a recording studio I built in Haida Gwaii, Kaagan Naay Studios/“Tracea House.”
The “Break” video was shot on Haida Gwaii in the time of Covid. The importance there was that we had been separated for so long that this video was more ceremony than “just” a music video. My Aunties held space as our Ancestors and my sister, cousin, and best friends hold me up as I tackle a hard subject and take power back alongside the throat singing of our dear Kelly Fraser, who has made her journey.
Biography:
Kristi Lane Sinclair is an artist completely unafraid to plumb the darkness in search of a glimmer of light. That’s precisely what this Haida/Cree powerhouse does on her album, Super Blood Wolf Moon, an awe-inspiring collection that reflects harrowing experiences women suffer at the hands of domestic abusers.
Grinding guitars and soaring strings accentuate SBWM’s roller coaster ride of emotions, which has always distinguished Sinclair’s work.
“To boil it down, anger and love are the two main forces at the heart of this album,” she says. “I wanted it to be a true account of how it feels to live with domestic violence and PTSD. And it’s not only about what I’ve been through, but also what I’ve learned from women I’ve encountered in many areas of my life.”
One Dot at a Time
Medium: Film
Statement:
Danika Saunders’s art follows the traditional rules of Northwest Coast formline design principles, while also integrating contemporary mediums. From painting acrylic originals, creating jewelry in metal, digitally designing on the iPad, or handpoke tattooing, her art is methodical and thoughtful.
Saunders is inspired by history, language, nature, wildlife, and everyday activities. Spending time on the land and waters helps fuel her inspiration. Education is powerful, continuously exploring new mediums and connecting with other skilled artists, Saunders enjoys expanding her own knowledge and understanding in new mediums.
Saunders’s art journey has opened many doors to amazing opportunities, not only for herself but also her community. Being able to share her knowledge and pass it on to the next generation is what inspires her.
Biography:
Danika Saunders was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1997. Raised Nuxalk from Bella Coola, BC, and bloodline to the Gwa’sala-Nakwaxda’xw, Saunders started practicing Northwest Coast art in 2010 while attending Acwsalcta School. After graduation, she attended the Freda Diesing School of Northwest Coast Art, obtaining her diploma in First Nations Fine Arts. Two-time YVR Art Foundation Scholarship recipient, and the inaugural recipient of the Crabtree McLennan Emerging Artists Award. After the Freda program, Saunders attended the Earthline Tattoo Residency where she learned the handpoke and skin stitch tattooing techniques. Recently she has focused on her own art career, dedicated to creating either digitally, with paints, through tattoos or jewelry.
"Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life."
Honeybloom Photography
Soldering the Pieces: Northwest Coast Copper Shields
Medium: Narrative Film
Statement:
This short documentary, Soldering the Pieces: Northwest Coast Copper Shields, follows Nisga’a artist Robert Davis as he explores the revitalization of traditional copper shield making on the Northwest Coast. Set in Ts’msyen territory, the film is both a personal journey and a communal reflection on culture, responsibility, and craft.
With insights from renowned Tahltan-Tlingit carver Dempsey Bob, the film honors copper as both a cultural emblem and a material for reconnection. While copper shields remain sacred to Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, the film invites all viewers to reflect on the meaning behind what we wear—and the stories that these metals carry.
This project wouldn’t exist without the vision and dedication of Rosie Johnnie-Mills (producer) and Ryln Gladue (director of photography), whose creative collaboration and cultural insight are at the heart of the film. Together, we crafted a piece that reflects not just one story, but many—held together like copper itself: strong, shaped by fire, and built to last.
Biography:
Dustin McGladrey (Nisga’a, Grizzly Bear Clan) is a filmmaker, writer, and editor dedicated to celebrating Indigenous stories through an Indigenous lens. His work highlights the richness, complexity, and innovation within Indigenous communities, showcasing culture as something living, evolving, and deeply connected to both past and future. Through documentary and narrative filmmaking, McGladrey’s storytelling invites audiences into worlds of vibrant identity, deep kinship, and creative expression. His films are a testament to the abundance of Indigenous knowledge, artistry, and resilience—not as something to be preserved, but as something thriving in the present. As co-founder of House of Copper Films, he is committed to creating space for Indigenous filmmakers and ensuring that these stories are not only told but recognized for their power and beauty.
Da’axłga Agwi Nts’iits’u a Wa̱n
Medium: Music
Statement:
G̱a̱mksimoon, formerly known as Saltwater Hank, is a rock-and-roll project created by Wil Uks Batsga G̱a̱laaw (Jeremy Pahl) of the Gitga'at First Nation. Inspired by the powerful and transformative nature of the waterspout, G̱a̱mksimoon’s sound is rooted in pre-contact Ts’msyen [Tsimshian] rhythms and melodies.
Performed entirely in Sm’algyax, the project revitalizes the language while crafting music that flows with the force and unpredictability of the natural phenomenon it’s named after.
Biography:
I am Ts’msyen, from the Laxsgyiik (Eagle) Clan of the House of Txat Gwatk. My traditional name is Wil Uks Batsga G̱a̱laaw—“where the seaward-facing cedar tree sticks out.” I was born to parents Sandy (Cree, Selkirk, Manitoba) and Henry Pahl (Ts’msyen, Ma̱xłaxaała, Txałgiiw).
My musical project, G̱a̱mksimoon—meaning “waterspout”—is a reflection of the powerful, swirling energy of our lands and waters. I write the lyrics entirely in Sm’algyax language. In my spare time, I enjoy harvesting, preserving, and cooking traditional foods, hanging out with elders, weaving cedar bark baskets, and watching hockey games. Through music and community, I honor my Ancestors and inspire others to embrace our living language.
Banchi Hanuse
Our Grandmother the Inlet
Medium: Narrative Film
Statement:
As a young Indigenous filmmaker and activist, my work is rooted in the interconnectedness of land, water, identity, and healing.
Transmuting my pain is what healed me—externalizing it through film allowed me to process and transform it. Our Grandmother the Inlet reflects this, its themes mirroring emotions I once carried inside.
Storytelling has always been in my blood. I was raised on the teachings of my great-grandfather, Chief Dan George, who believed our people must reclaim our narratives. That truth guides my work. Inspired by Toni Cade Bambara’s words, “It’s the artist’s job to make the revolution irresistible,” I use film not only as a way to heal but to imagine and create a better future for my community and the world.
Biography:
Kayah George (she/they) is an Indigenous filmmaker, activist, and student from the Tulalip and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Her work blends storytelling, environmental advocacy, and cultural revitalization. She co-wrote, directed, and produced Our Grandmother the Inlet, which received an honorable mention for Best Canadian Short at the Vancouver International Film Festival. George is currently directing a National Geographic educational documentary series on orcas and matriarchy. Recognized in Globe and Mail and named one of Corporate Knights’ “30 Under 30” sustainability leaders in Canada, she continues to push boundaries in film and activism. Alongside filmmaking, she studies linguistics and psychology at Simon Fraser University.
Danielle DaSilva
Yiyuuzua: Notes after the Flood
Medium: Film
Statement:
Our ancestral art forms are often meant to be seen in motion, emerging from the dance screen and put into Earth-wise rotations on the Bighouse floor. Early in my practice, I incorporated my carvings and painted works into experimental video art pieces. After these early forays, I started to collage and layer them within live-visual performance and eventually animation.
Collaboration with other artists has been a key part of this process. I still often work in the solitude of personal practice. When I am able to join with others on a project, I find the work stands stronger. My collaborators have helped mobilize the forms into rhythm, flow, and narrative. I want this work to be seen with eyes on the past, present, and future, whether underwater, in the sky, or on the ground in a post-apocalyptic setting. I offer big gratitude to the small teams who have helped see the stories through with me.
Biography:
Bracken Hanuse Corlett is an interdisciplinary artist from the Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations. He started out in theater and performance and eventually moved to his current practice that fuses sculpture, painting, and drawing with digital-media, audio-visual performance, animation, and narrative. He is a graduate of the En’owkin Centre of Indigenous Art and went to Emily Carr University of Art and Design. He trained in Northwest Coast Native Art, carving, and design from acclaimed Haíɫzaqv artists Bradley Hunt and his sons Shawn and Dean. He was the recipient of the 2014 BC Creative Achievement Award in First Nations Art, the 2022 Portfolio Prize, and the 2022 Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Visual Arts. He has exhibited, screened, performed, and had his work commissioned publicly on a local to international scale.
Peripheral Loading
Medium: Installation
Statement:
My work investigates the manufactured illusion of truth in a world increasingly obscured by content saturation. Through constructed physical and virtual installations, I aim to recontextualize our relationship with spaces often overlooked in our hurried lives. My installations challenge normalized social and spatial assumptions we’re asked to make in a world of constant demand and movement, prompting critical reflection on how the artificial can undermine our intuition.
By intertwining animated urban and natural landscape imagery, I expose the absurdity of superficial facades in our environments. Through my installations I question how to navigate a spatially manipulated world where truth is difficult to locate both physically and virtually. A crucial aspect of my practice is encouraging viewers to slow down in moments that might otherwise discourage it. My work uses our relationship with technology and virtual imagery in a way that helps us foster a deeper connection with the world away from it.
Biography:
Jordan Hill is an emerging new media artist from the T'Sou-ke Nation, located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Victoria.
Hill has exhibited in numerous galleries, residencies, and festivals across Canada, exploring themes of contemporary digital culture through interactive and disorienting installations. His work invites viewers to engage with the current complexities of truth and immediacy, primarily focusing on questioning the use of facades in habitually travelled locales. Hill’s work plays with disciplinary boundaries, blending technology with structure and body.
His practice is influenced by urban and natural landscapes, architecture, and his own Indigenous heritage and experiences as a member of the T'Sou-ke Nation. Through these elements, he creates immersive experiences that ask audiences to slow down, linger, and be critical of moments that often discourage it.
Courtesy of Jordan Hill
Shaping the Future Through Tradition is on view in the Contemporary Art Gallery, a rotating exhibition gallery in the Museum’s Northwest Coast Hall, and is included with all admission.
Guest Curator
Michael Bourquin is a multidisciplinary filmmaker from Iskut First Nation, with extensive experience as director, cinematographer, and editor. His work centers Indigenous oral history, tradition, cultural revitalization, and community empowerment. His films and work have been screened in the living room of his Tsū (grandmother) and around the globe, including at the imagineNATIVE Film Festival, Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival, Māoriland Film Festival, and Vancouver International Film Festival.
Bourquin is dedicated to creating stories that honor the past, celebrate the now, and inspire future generations. His work highlights the strength and spirit of Indigenous communities as he strives to amplify and uplift voices that have long been underrepresented. Through thoughtful, community-driven storytelling, he continues to explore themes of identity, belonging, and cultural resurgence across film and documentary projects.
