Artwork titled Copper from the Hood
- Audio guide stop: 193
- Gallery: Room 29a
- Maker: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas
- Made in: Vancouver
- Date: 2011
- Object type: sculpture, copper
- Materials: steel; copper
- Museum number: 2011,2012.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
This is "Copper from the Hood," a striking sculpture created in 2011 by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, who is of Haida heritage. The artwork is a modified car bonnet, plated in copper and painted in bold colors. You can see a small bird and a woodworm among other shapes on the surface. These figures are more than decorative — they come from a Haida oral story about a girl who carelessly feeds a pet woodworm, leading to a destructive, gluttonous outcome. The work carries a playful and pointed comment about museums themselves — places where cultural objects are preserved but also transformed. Yahgulanaas made this piece in Vancouver, fusing steel and copper in a way that makes the familiar look entirely new. His signature and a fish-like symbol are etched on the back, marking it with personal and cultural significance.
See it in person
Artwork titled Copper from the Hood is on display in Room 29a at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 193, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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