Behind the Surrealists' obsession with Indigenous masks

Indigenous masks from B.C. and Alaska influenced the work and world view of some of the most well-known modern artists and writers. In the 1930s and '40s, European Surrealists were obsessed with masks from the northwest coast of North America, many of which had been stolen, seized by the government or sold by people who didn't have the right to sell them.

In So Surreal: Behind the Masks, Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond investigates how the pieces ended up in the hands of some of history's greatest artists, influencing the work of Max Ernst, André Breton, Joan Miró and others.  

Diamond begins his quest in New York, where a century-old Yup'ik mask is selling at a high-end art fair alongside works of modern art. 

Always fascinated by the intersection of Indigenous and mainstream cultures, Diamond attends the fair and learns the mask was once in the hands of the Surrealist Enrico Donati — and that Donati wasn't the only Surrealist who collected Indigenous masks. Intrigued, Diamond sets off to find out how the pieces ended up in Surrealist collections to begin with.

Diamond's journey takes him to Yup'ik territory in Alaska and down the coast to the lands of the Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw on B.C.'s southwest coast. These were hot spots for collectors, who came to trade and purchase ceremonial masks at the turn of the 20th century under the guise of salvaging artifacts of "the Vanishing Indian." But some of the masks had been stolen. 

As Diamond traces the movements of the masks in the early 1900s, he learns of a missing ceremonial raven transformation mask, which was taken from the Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw on Canada's West Coast more than a hundred years ago.

Juanita Johnston of U'mista Cultural Centre and art dealer Donald Ellis have been trying to recover it. Although currently held by the family of French art critic Georges Duthuit, the mask's exact whereabouts are unknown. (The family has not responded to the community's requests for its return.)

In search of the Surrealist collections, and with an eye out for the missing mask, Diamond goes back to New York, where the Surrealists and their entourage had stumbled upon the masks during their exile in the Second World War. Then he follows the trail of the masks across the Atlantic Ocean to Paris, where the Surrealists returned after the war, with their acquisitions in hand. 

In Paris, Diamond meets with Yup'ik storyteller and dancer Chuna McIntyre, who's in Paris to reconnect with the Yup'ik masks that were formerly in Surrealist collections and now hang in museums like the Louvre. 

Along the way, Diamond meets art scholars and contemporary Indigenous artists who explain the profound impact of these masks on the art and world view of the Surrealists. 

And throughout his journey, he continues to look for clues about the missing mask. Will the community finally bring it home?

So Surreal: Behind the Masks is a detective story, which delves into the complex world of repatriation and access while exploring the meaning and importance of the masks and how they came to influence an iconic art movement. 

Watch the documentary on CBC Gem and the CBC Docs YouTube channel.