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Topic spans: 1954 - 2002
The Life and Legend of Bill Reid
Bill Reid spent his life confronting public opinion. The artist, who was of Haida and European descent, was largely credited with inspiring a Haida renaissance with his masterful works of art. Some viewed Reid as a curiosity – an artist who navigated his way through two dissimilar worlds. Others viewed him with a more cynical eye and criticized him as a mimic with manufactured ties to the Haida community. CBC Archives explores the esteemed, influential and at times controversial career of Bill Reid.
9 television clips
7 radio clips
The farewell screen
Broadcast Date: July 19, 1968
Bill Reid stands in the middle of a dark forest and unveils his latest work — an intricately carved cedar screen depicting the Haida legends. "It's a kind of postscript to all the funny games I've played in my role of somewhat Haida, building memorials to a lot of Queen Charlotte Islanders who left a strange and obsessive and very great art form and died unnoticed," Reid says. But, Reid is aloof when describing the mythology, making vague and unsure references to Haida folklore.Throughout his career, biographers and critics will view Reid as a curiosity — an artist defensively navigating his way between two dissimilar worlds. Others will view him with a more cynical eye and criticize him as a mimic, with manufactured ties to the Haida community. At this early stage in his career, Reid indicates that this will be his last Haida tribute but this pledge later proves to be a promise he can't keep.
The farewell screen
• The screen was commissioned by the BC Provincial Museum in Victoria, where it was finally installed. The project took six months to complete.• In 1968, Reid left Canada and worked in England for a year. With his funds running low, Reid returned to Montreal where he struggled with his mounting financial debts.
The farewell screen
Medium: Television
Program: 30 From Vancouver
Broadcast Date: July 19, 1968
Guest(s): Bill Reid
Host: Marjorie Gage
Duration: 5:01
Last updated:
July 7, 2009
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16 clips in this topic . page
Radio
23:26
Nov. 8, 1991
Folk musician Gordon Lightfoot chats about his career as Canada's most famous troubadour.
Radio
2:04
March 2, 1945
Canadian painter, writer and Group of Seven contemporary dies in Victoria, B.C.
The farewell screen.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: July 7, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 13, 2012.]