Biography

Robert Davidson is known for Take Me Home (2013), Gyanangee: Beyond Being Silenced (2023) and Haida Modern (2019).

In 1969, at the age of 22, he spent 3 1/2 months, six days a week, carving a traditional Haida totem pole, assisted by his 14-year-old brother Reg. No poles had been raised on Haida Gwaii for almost 100 years. Many of the older poles had been taken down after Christian missionaries called them pagan idols, and when collectors, ethnologists, and other officials were allowed by the government to take poles away ostensibly for preservation and study.

Haida artist, carver, and jeweler.

He was awarded the C.M. (Member of the Order of Canada) on May 9, 1996 and Invested on February 26, 1997 by the Canadian Governor General. He lives in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada. Wood, silver, gold, bronze and paint are some of the artistic mediums he has used in his works of art which hang in museums and private collections in Canada and abroad. He has developed his own technical skills and creativity in an astonishing variety of paintings, sculptures and totem poles that transcends culture and speaks to a universal humanity. Through his work, he has joined the past to the present and extended the rich traditions of Haida art into the future.

He was awarded the OBC (Order of British Columbia). His 1969 totem pole was the first raised in the village of Masset in more than a century and continues to rally the region around the reclamation of Haida culture. A passionate mentor and community leader, he helps connect ancient teachings with modern life through his many pot latches and performances.

He was awarded the O.C. (Officer of the Order of Canada) on May 19, 2022 and Invested on June 21, 2023 by the Canadian Governor General. He lives in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada. He is a mainstay in contemporary art. A prolific sculptor and painter, he has driven the revival and advancement of Haida art for more than five decades, and his pieces and exhibitions have helped historical First Nations works to be newly appreciated. .This is a promotion within the Order.