Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

In 2026 He was invited by the German government to join an International Advisory Board on art institutions in Germany.

• Name — Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas • Born — 1954 • Known for — Painting, sculpture, carving • Movement — Indigenous art, Haida manga • Notable Works — Hachidori Coppers from the Hood Pedal to the Meddle

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas was born in Prince Rupert, British Columbia in 1954 and grew up alongside Delkatla, near the fishing village of Masset on Haida Gwaii, off the north coast of British Columbia. He is a descendant of the influential Haida artists, Isabella Edenshaw, Charles Edenshaw and Delores Churchill As a young artist, he covered the walls and ceilings of his bedroom with drawings. He is the eldest grandson of 7laanaas Auu Gala, Oliver Adams who was the Hereditary Chief of Massett. The presence and status of the Arts in this community were important influences. At age 22, he began to direct his artistic endeavors outward, to effect change in the community and in relation to broader movements of environmental activism.

In 1978, Yahgulanaas began his formal training in the classical forms of Haida art; Yahgulanaas became a full-time artist after several decades working to protect the biocultural diversity of Haida Gwaii.

While Yahgulanaas trained under master carvers, his brief exposure to Chinese brush techniques with Cantonese artist Cai Ben Kwan in the 1990s encouraged a departure from the typical expressions of the Haida art form and the development of a new genre of narrative art called "Haida manga". Haida Manga blends Pacific Northwest Indigenous iconographies and framelines with the graphic dynamism of Asian manga. Haida Manga is committed to hybridity as a force that opens a third space for critical engagement. It offers a way of viewing and engaging with social issues as it seeks participation, dialogue, reflection, and action.

• ‘’ Diaries after a Flood’’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada, 2024 • Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas -- Traveling the Museum, Museum of Anthropology at UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2007 • Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB, Canada, 2009 • Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and Edward Burtynsky, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, AB, Canada, 2009 • Emily Carr and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Masters Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada, 2013 • Old Growth, grunt gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2013 • The Seriousness of Play, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2016 • A Tale of Two Shamans, Haida Gwaii, Canada, 2018 • Making Mischief, Gallery Jones, Vancouver, Canada, 2021 • New Works, Madrona Gallery, Victoria, Canada, 2022

• Skung Gwaii Robe, Haida Gwaii Museum at Qay'llnagaay, Haida Gwaii, Canada, 2002 • Raven Travelling, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2006 • What Use Art History?, Art Gallery of the South Okanagan, Penticton, BC, Canada, 2008 • Challenging Traditions, Reach Gallery Museum, Abbotsford, BC, Canada, 2010 • Visions of British Columbia: A Landscape Manual, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2010 • Haida Made: New Collaborations in Design, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2010 • Continuum: Vision and Creativity on the Northwest Coast, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2010 • Beat Nation, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2012 • Tokyo Design Week, Milan, Italy, 2015 • Sding ḴʼawX̱angs, McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal, Canada, 2019 • Comic Sans, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, 2022 • Outsider Art Fair, Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City, USA, 2023 • Two Squares Equal One with Thomas Seligman at 35 Barlett, San Francisco, 2023 • New Terrains: Contemporary Native American Art, Phillips, New York City, USA • D'un océan à l'autre, cap sur la bande dessinée canadienne / From Coast to Coast, Canadian Comics on the Move, Angoulême International Comics Festival, Angoulême, France, 2024 • XIÁM, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2024