JAMES HART
(Canadian/Haida born 1952)

AVAILABLE WORKS

James (Jim) Hart was born in Masset, Haida Gwaii, British Colombia in 1952. He is a member of the Eagle Clan, of which he has been Chief since 1999 when he received the hereditary title 7idansuu. This title was also held by his great grandfather, the artist and Chief Charles Edenshaw (circa 1839-1920). In his youth Hart began a career as a fisherman, but early on recognized his skill in carving and left to pursue a calling creating art.

Hart began his career by apprenticing in the 1970’s under Robert Davidson working on the Edenshaw memorial house. Other commissions from this time include his uncle, Claude Davidson’s, commission to paint Eagle and Raven crest figures on the front of a longhouse-styled home and art gallery located in Old Massett. In 1979 the Royal British Columbia Museum commissioned a 7 foot by 9 foot carved Dogfish Crest screen.

Hart moved to Vancouver and began working for Bill Reid in the 1980’s. Reid instructed Hart on carvings which he could not complete himself due to illness. Hart worked on some of Bill Reid’s most important sculptures including The Raven and the First Man and the Spirit of Haida Gwaii/The Jade Canoe. After four years under Bill Reid, Hart recognized that he needed to leave to develop his own style. Through the late 1980’s he worked overseeing an installation at the Canadian Museum of civilization and authoured, with Reg Davidson, a catalogue for the Lowie Museum of Anthropology titled Haida Artifacts: An Exhibition (1990). 

It was in the 1980’s that Hart began to innovate and develop new techniques. In 1982 he was the first British Columbia First Nations artist to create a bronze sculpture of a totem pole. He also began to include abalone in his carvings and created a new art form with his full wall carving installations. By the early 2000’s he was receiving large commissions, including the 14-foot tall bronze sculpture The Three Watchman for the entrance to Kerrisdale’s Quilchena Park apartment complex. In 2011 this sculpture was installed outside the National Gallery of Canada as part of their permanent collection. In 2012 Hart began his largest project to date, The Dance Screen (The Scream Too), now permanently housed in the Audain Museum. In 2018, 100 guests attended the one-hour inaugural dance performance for the work by James Hart with his troupe of Haida Dancers wearing ceremonial regalia. 

In 2017 Hart completed the Reconciliation Pole which was raised at the University of British Columbia to honour a time before, during and after Canada’s Indian residential schools. This 55-foot pole was carved by Hart with the assistance of his two sons, Gwaliga and Carl, and five other carvers (John Brent Bennett, Brandon Brown, Jaalen Edenshaw, Derek White, and Leon Ridley). Hart has made it a part of his practice to employ a team of Haida apprentices and to carry out as much work as possible on Haida Gwaii. By doing so he can pass on invaluable cultural and technical knowledge, adding the continuation of historical artistic traditions for the future of the Haida people.

The first monograph of Hart’s work was published in the fall of 2025, titled 7IDANsuu James Hart: A Monumental Practice. One of the book’s authors, Curtis Collins, explained that it is difficult to capture Hart’s full practice as he has focused most of his career on creating towering poles and large-scale sculptures, virtually impossible to gather for an exhibition in a gallery or museum. Therefore, this book acts as a retrospective exhibition, spotlighting nineteen of his monumental works while also showcasing his gold and silver jewelry and smaller works.

James Hart continues to carve today, in addition to carrying out his role as Chief of the Eagle Clan. He has received many awards, including The Order of British Columbia, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, as well as honorary doctorates from both Emily Carr University of Art and Design and Simon Fraser University.