Chief Beau Dick
Beau Dick and artists from Northwest Canada
PROJECT
Beau Dick was a hereditary chief of the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw First Nation in British Columbia, Canada who helped shape a new generation of Kwakwaka’wakw mask makers, whose work can be seen here alongside Dick’s. As well as being a master carver, Dick embodied the Kwakwaka’wakw ideal that true wealth lies not in what one hoards but in what one gives. Traditionally worn at potlatch ceremonies to connect the living with their ancestors, his masks – like Pookmis, at the centre of this display – are more than cultural artefacts. Through Dick’s hands, unseen beings become tangible, inviting us to honour mystery as its own kind of truth, and culture as a living, transformative force. For Dick, upholding these traditions was an act of resistance and healing – a return to land, spirit and Ancestral knowledge.
ABOUT
Chief Beau Dick, Walas Gwa’yam (1955–2017) was a Kwakwaka’wakw (Musgamakw Dzawada’enuxw First Nation) artist and activist who was acclaimed as one of the most versatile and talented carvers in Pacific Northwest Canada. He began carving at an early age, studying under his father, Benjamin Dick, his grandfather, James Dick, and other renowned artists such as Henry Hunt and Doug Cranmer.
This grouping of masks celebrates Beau Dick’s work and his legacy through a younger generation of artists from Northwest Canada. This group of artists are representative of a number of different tribes and the mythology and cosmology of different Nations who are extremely diverse, although there are commonalities. This collection of masks depict the transformation masks often worn by dancers during potlatch ceremonies that are steeped in status and gift giving across these peoples. The masks convey social positions in the tribe and often depict a family’s genealogy through crest symbols.