This is "the first exhibit in which the voice of First Nations people is used to describe drawings, paintings and prints which were created by Emily Carr, Walter Phillips, A.Y. Jackson, George Pepper, Langdon Kihn and F.M. Bell-Smith." The online companion to an exhibit that toured 1999-2000, the site represents the collaborative efforts of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Stewart Macnair Inc., Industrial Art Internet Group Ltd., and the Heritage Branch of British Columbia, with funding from Industry Canada's Digital Collections Program. The exhibit's introduction gives an overview of Carr (with brief mentions of the other artists as well), who, in the early part of the twentieth century, wanted to paint or sketch all of British Columbia's standing totem poles. One need not have a particular interest in these artists or their subject matter to appreciate To the Totem Forests, however. The curators have put together an interesting, easy-to-navigate Website, placing source photographs next to the paintings they inspired, and throughout, contextualizing the works with passages from First Nations members, the artists, Franz Boas, and others. A map, an activity center, and a bibliography round out the site.
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