THE TITLE AND DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF LETTERS, (honoris causa) CONFERRED AT CONGREGATION, MAY 25, 2007
ROBERT CHARLES DAVIDSON
MR. CHANCELLOR,
Great artists do more than create beauty. They light the way for others to enter into the spirit of creation.
Robert Davidson is such an artist. His Haida name is Guud San Glans – Eagle of the Dawn. Mr. Davidson’s work exemplifies the majesty and power of contemporary Northwest Coast art. A master carver of totem poles and masks, he is also renowned as a printmaker, painter and jeweller.
Mr. Davidson reverences traditions, but interprets them anew. He has burnished the craft and vision inherited from his father, grandfather and great grandfather. In 1969, he raised the first Haida totem pole on Haida Gwaii in more than 90 years. Mr. Davidson has been a pivotal figure in the Haida cultural revival.
Mr. Davidson generously mentors other First Nations artists, who have graduated and become recognized artists themselves.
For more than 30 years, Mr. Davidson has produced an internationally acclaimed body of work. His art is found in a number of important private and public collections including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles.
Earlier this year in February, Mr. Davidson opened a one-man show in the National Gallery in Ottawa. He is the second First Nations artist to have had this honour. He has received many honours, among them the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for his contribution to First Nations art and culture. He has received the Order of British Columbia and in 1996 was made a member of the Order of Canada.
Mr. Chancellor, for so generously sharing his gifts with the world, I ask you to confer the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa upon Robert Charles Davidson.