Archival Program Information
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Symposium


Broadside/In the Land of the Head Hunters, 1914
 
Thursday, June 5, and Friday, June 6, 2008
9:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Museum Lecture Hall
The Getty Center

Admission is free. Separate reservations are required for each day of the symposium and for the film screening.

This two-day symposium examines a variety of themes related to Edward Curtis's 1914 silent film In the Land of the Head Hunters, which featured non-professional actors from Kwakwaka'wakw communities in British Columbia. Speakers will discuss the nature of documentary encounters with First Nations peoples in archives, museums, and the collective imagination; the representation of indigenous culture and ethnicity in film; material considerations in the restoration of early silent film; "Indian music" as a representational phenomenon in film; first voice ritual in Kwakwaka'wakw culture; and challenges in collecting and display of First Nations cultures of the Pacific Northwest.

The symposium is complemented by a screening of a newly restored version of Curtis's landmark film, now reunited with its original musical score by John J. Braham, and followed by live traditional dance presented by the Gwa'wina Dancers of the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations, British Columbia.

Old Images / New Views, a related digital photo exhibition of Edward Curtis's work will be on display in the Lobby of the Harold M. Williams Auditorium, the evening of film screening on June 5.

This program is presented by the Getty Research Institute in collaboration with the UCLA Film & Television Archive, UCLA Philharmonia, U'mista Cultural Centre, and the Autry National Center.