IN THIS ISSUE:
From My Window 4 Photographers on Staying In — View from the Top Virtual Reality in 360º — Reflections from Kinngait 80 Years Inside Cape Dorset
Interiors
Picturing Home
Opposite: Young Hunter with Geese, Sheokjuk Oqutaq, early 1950s $10,000 — $15,000 Above: Untitled Wallhanging, Jessie Oonark, c. 1968 $25,000 — $35,000 Left: Recorder, Unidentified Haida Artist, c. 1850s–1860s, argillite and bone $25,000 — $35,000 Below: Reclining Polar Bear, Elijassiapik, 1950s $12,000 — $18,000
CONTENTS
34.2
Inuit Art Quarterly Interiors
Front
Features
Back 68
05 From the Editor 06 Meet the Contributors 08 Impact Update
CURATORIAL NOTES
Nagvaaqtavut: What We Found The Audio Guide for INUA by Heather Igloliorte
79 News 5 WORKS
16
Feast for the Eyes
LAST LOOK
80 Mary Okheena CHOICE
20 Kakulu Saggiaktok by Kailey Sheppard CHOICE
22 Seqininnguaq Poulsen by Olivia Lya Thomassie ARTISTS’ CORNER
24 Supporting Artists to Create PROFILE
26 Karis Gruben by Alicia Bojkov
PORTFOLIO
30 Inside Out by Napatsi Folger
Sights from the centre of the iglu, brought to life through prints and drawings.
38 Intermural
A year into the pandemic, four Inuit photographers interrogate the view from their own interiors.
48 An Insider’s View by Pat Feheley
Looking at the distinct tradition Kinngait artists have created of documenting their own homes, dwellings and studios.
60 Immersive Worlds by Kaylee Maddison
Filmmaker Nyla Innuksuk combines her love of storytelling with virtual reality to create new vistas to explore.
ON THE COVER
Brian Adams (b. 1985 Anchorage) — Home 2019 Medium format film photograph COURTESY THE ARTIST
ABOVE
Itee Pootoogook (1951–2014 Kinngait) — Indoor 2010 Coloured pencil 65 × 50 cm
REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
LEFT
Chris P. Sampson (b. 1978 Happy Valley-Goose Bay) — Morning Light 2021 Digital photograph COURTESY THE ARTIST
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Front
MASTHEAD PUBLISHER
EDITORIAL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Inuit Art Quarterly is published by the Inuit Art Foundation.
Executive Director and Publisher Alysa Procida
President Heather Igloliorte Montreal, QC
Editorial Director Britt Gallpen
Eric Anoee Jr. Arviat, NU
Deputy Editor Sue Carter
Reneltta Arluk Banff, AB
Associate Editor Napatsi Folger
Jamie Cameron Toronto, ON
Associate Editor Lisa Frenette
Linda Grussani Ottawa, ON
Online Editor Jessica MacDonald
Michael Massie Kippens, NL
Audio-Visual Editor Melodie Sammurtok-Lavallée
Ryan Rice Toronto, ON
Established in 1987, the Inuit Art Foundation is a not-for-profit charitable organization that provides support to Canada’s Inuit arts communities and is the sole national body mandated to promote Inuit artists and art within Canada and internationally. This magazine relies on donations made to the Inuit Art Foundation, a registered charitable organization in Canada (BN #121033724RR0001) and the United States (#980140282). The Inuit Art Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through contributions from the Reconciliation Secretariat at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage, as well as the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Creates. Subscriptions subscribe@inuitartfoundation.org Canada: $33/yr. Excludes GST/HST. US: $44/yr. Elsewhere: $48/yr. GST/HST #121033724RT0001. The Inuit Art Quarterly is a member of Magazines Canada. Publication date of this issue: June 15, 2021 ISSN 0831-6708 Publication Mail Agreement #40050252 Postmaster send address changes to Inuit Art Foundation. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Inuit Art Foundation 1655 Dupont Street Toronto, ON, M6P 3T1 (647) 498-7717 inuitartfoundation.org ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. REPRODUCTION WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. THE INUIT ART QUARTERLY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR UNSOLICITED MATERIAL. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE INUIT ART QUARTERLY ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE INUIT ART FOUNDATION. PRINTED IN CANADA. DISTRIBUTED BY MAGAZINES CANADA. FROM TIME TO TIME WE MAKE OUR SUBSCRIBERS’ NAMES AVAILABLE TO COMPANIES WHOSE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WE FEEL MAY BE OF INTEREST TO YOU. TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THESE MAILINGS, PLEASE SEND YOUR REQUEST, ALONG WITH A COPY OF YOUR SUBSCRIPTION MAILING LABEL, TO THE ADDRESS ABOVE.
Inuit Art Quarterly
OPPOSITE
Olooreak Egungat (b. 1954 Qamani'tuaq) — Untitled (I Need to Say Something) 2018 Coloured pencil, ink 38.1 × 58.4 cm COURTESY MADRONA GALLERY REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
Contributing Editor Profiles Bronson Jacque Contributing Editor Online Leanne Inuarak-Dall Copy Editor Nadine Ryan Fact Checker Amy Prouty Advertising Manager Nicholas Wattson Art Director (On Leave) Matthew Hoffman Art Director (Interim) Maegan Fidelino Colour Gas Company Printing Interprovincial Group —
FOUNDATION Strategic Initiatives Director Heather Campbell Igloo Tag Coordinator Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik
Artist Services Manager Jon Lockyer Inuvialuit Settlement Region Community Liaison Darcie Bernhardt
Development Manager Christa Ouimet
Nunatsiavut Community Liaison Jessica Winters
Administrative Assistant Brittany Holliss
Nunavik Community Liaison Nancy Saunders
Executive Assistant Alyson Hardwick
Nunavut Community Liaison Jesse Tungilik
Archival Technician Graphic Materials Arwa El Hussein
Southern Canada Community Liaison Alberta Rose Williams
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Summer 2021
FROM THE EDITOR
For over a year, we, like you, have been inside. We’ve become intimately familiar with the views outside our windows, the shifting light across our walls and the sounds and rhythms within our homes. As the weather warms and we move tentatively and optimistically outdoors, we have been wondering about the legacy of this time of relative isolation and its impact on artists and their work. What has this extended period at home meant? And what has it created? Inuit artists have long depicted their homes, structures and surroundings across media, capturing the intimacy and immediacy of lives lived and shared indoors, for generations. The Portfolio in this issue centres a selection of representations of domestic and community life, enacted amidst the backdrop, sometimes unseen, of the iglu. Each artist renders the stuff of their everyday lives with care and attention—qulliit, drums and games feature prominently. Many capture the joy of gathering together and serve as a reminder that better days will return again. Turning to this current moment, we sought to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted or shifted the work of artists, whose studios have become their homes. The resulting Feature, “Intermural,” pairs recent images by four photographers— Brian Adams, Taqralik Partridge, Chris P. Sampson and Jennie Williams—with their own words about the impact on their personal and professional lives. Throughout, windows feature prominently, framing the outside world, allowing light to stream in and capturing our changing relationships to the public realm over the past year. These views are deeply familiar in their vantages Interiors
and feel almost universal in the context of this shared experience. The window, in its ubiquity, both separates and connects us all. It is unsurprising then it to find it featured once more in our cover image by Adams. This vantage point is featured again in this issue with Kitchen Window (2010) by Itee Pootoogoook, in “An Insider’s View” by Pat Feheley. In this Feature, the author explores how a celebrated artistic community has meticulously documented the interior spaces of their work and personal lives for more than 80 years. The final Feature in the issue pivots inwards, with a look at the worlds we create and inhabit in our minds’ eye. For Nyla Inuksuk, one of the most powerful and exciting tools available today is virtual reality, technology that enables the filmmaker to transport her audiences into 360-degree immersive and interactive environments. Her recent and upcoming projects, including a mixed-reality exhibition for Qaumajuq, the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit art centre, signal how we’ve only just begun to harness the possibilities for this new and exciting media. Qaumajuq, and specifically the inaugural exhibition INUA, are likewise the subject of this issue’s Curatorial Notes authored 5
by co-curator and IAF Board President Dr. Heather Igloliorte who shares a behindthe-scenes look at this historic first exhibition. With a new season comes renewal and change and with that in mind I’d like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere and heartfelt thanks to our outgoing volunteer Editorial Advisory Council members—Mary Dailey Desmarais, Kim Latreille, Samia Madwar, Sarah Milroy, Taqralik Partridge, Dominique Ritter and Elizabeth Qulaut— as we are reviewing advisory structures across the organization. On behalf of the Inuit Art Foundation team, our immense thanks for your generosity and guidance. At a time when we’ve all become intimately familiar with our own interiors, it’s our hope that this issue provides you a different kind of window into the lives of the artists whose artistic visions and perspectives have made this past year a little more expansive, colourful and frankly, bearable. As we look to brighter days ahead, may your walls and imagination be a portal to the many worlds that exist beyond our own front doors. Britt Gallpen Editorial Director Front
MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS
For this issue, we asked contributors to tell us about the art in their own interiors that inspire them as they write. What we received was a collection of works that hold the authors’ memories, lessons and potential for fresh creativity, revealing the many roles that art in our interiors can play. “This piece captures my initial attraction to creative writing, via poetry and my current love of Better Oblivion Community Center.” ALICIA BOJKOV PAGE 26
“I watched Ohotaq [Mikkigak] making this drawing in Kinngait in 2012 and loved it! When it finally arrived in the South, we had just bought a new house and our purchase of Green House was our celebration.”
“If I’m ever stuck for words, the fresh greens of this painting provide a moment of relief.” KAYLEE MADDISON PAGE 60
PAT FEHELEY PAGE 48
ABOVE (RIGHT)
BELOW (RIGHT)
Ohotaq Mikkikgak (1936–2014 Kinngait) — Green House 2012 Pencil crayon 111.8 × 152.4 cm
Ravi Zuppa (b. 1977) — Rage 2020 Serigraph 20.3 × 13.9 cm
Charles J Snelson (1922–2009) — Untitled 1989 Acrylic 40 × 49.5 cm
Kailey Sheppard (b. 1997 Winnipeg) — Gradually 2019 Acrylic on canvas 76.2 × 50.8 cm
Charlotte Karetak (b. 1995 Arviat) — Piruksiat amma Ulu 2019 Ink and pencil crayon 12.7 × 16.5 cm
REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY PAT FEHELEY © THE ARTIST
COURTESY THE ARTIST PHOTO ALICIA BOJKOV
COURTESY KAYLEE MADDISON
COURTESY THE ARTIST
COURTESY OLIVIA THOMASSIE
ABOVE (LEFT)
Inuit Art Quarterly
OPPOSITE (ABOVE)
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OPPOSITE (BELOW)
Summer 2021
CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT
“Gradually was painted by myself in 2019 and has been a reminder that I do not need to rush, which in turn inspires me to write.”
IN THIS ISSUE:
From My Window 4 Photographers on Staying In — View from the Top Virtual Reality in 360º — Reflections from Kinngait 80 Years Inside Cape Dorset
KAILEY SHEPPARD PAGE 20
Interiors Picturing Home
Brian Adams Based in Anchorage, Alaska, and specializing in environmental portraiture, photographer Brian Adams has exhibited worldwide, including in the National Gallery of Canada’s recent exhibition Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel. We asked him to tell us more about Home, the image on this issue’s cover. PAGE 38 What does this piece mean to you? For me, this photo represents time and patience. I made this photo in 2019, but after the pandemic hit the image represented something different to me. I had no idea how much time and patience we would all need to get through 2020.
“The fireweed is one of my favourite flowers and brings many memories from my childhood goofing around with my friends—telling each other to not eat it or bees would go to our stomach, because bees love flowers.”
What inspired you to take the photo in the first place? The first thing I do in the morning is wake up and make coffee. This is something I see every day—but I know I won’t always live in this house. I wanted to have something to remember my time here.
OLIVIA THOMASSIE PAGE 22
Is there anything you would want someone looking at the work to know? I never regret making work, it’s always the images I didn’t make that I regret. Even if it’s just a kettle in a kitchen. Simplicity and functionality are beautiful.
Check out this issue’s artists at inuitartfoundation.org/profiles
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Front
IMPACT UPDATE
Donors make all the difference IAF Tunisijut Circle With annual gifts of $1,000 or more, this incredibly dedicated group provides critical support to connect artists with opportunities and make an extraordinary impact. $125,000+ RBC Foundation $75,000–$99,999 The John and Marian Scott Charitable Trust $25,000–$49,999 Power Corporation of Canada TD Bank Group / The Ready Commitment Willmott Bruce Hunter Foundation
IAF Taqqitamaat Tunisijut Circle The Taqqitamaat Tunisijut Circle is a special group of donors who give monthly to sustain the IAF and create opportunities for artists.
Inuit Art Quarterly
$10,000–$24,999 First Arts Flywheel Strategic Erik Haites John and Joyce Price
Monthly supporter Endowment supporter Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award
supporter Inuit Art Quarterly supporter IAQ Profiles supporter
Artist Services supporter
$1,000–$2,499 Nakasuk Alariaq Lewis Auerbach and Barbara Legowski
Vincent and Barbara Barresi Patricia Bovey Shary Boyle Gabrielle Campbell Stephanie Comer and Rob Craigie Neil Devitt Marian Dodds, in honour of Dedie Dodds Arthur Drache CM, QC and Judy Young Drache Jon and Val Eliassen Eleanor Erikson Fath Group/O’Hanlon Paving Ltd. Pat Feheley Robert and Karlen Fellows Linda Forbes, with thanks to Dr. James Bader DVM from Merrick Veterinary Practice Janice Gonsalves Susan Hawkins Huit Huit Tours Ltd, Cape Dorset Inuit Art Inuit Art Society Joyce Keltie Katarina Kupca
Kathleen Lippa Maija M. Lutz and Peter A. Tassia David and Liz Macdonald The MacDonald Griffin Charitable Foundation Christie MacInnes Susan Marrier Kathryn C. Minard Caoimhe Morgan-Feir and Graham Edge Mary Nirlungayuk, on behalf of Member Co-operatives in Canada’s Arctic in support of their arts Constance Pathy Joram and Lona Piatigorsky Paul and Carole Pizzolante Ann Posen, in honour of David Braidberg Andrew and Valerie Pringle Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart Shirley Richardson Celine Saucier Frances Scheidel Herb and Cece Schreiber Foundation
Amy Adams Manasie Paniloo Akpaliapik Nakasuk Alariaq Lea Algar-Moscoe Mary Anglim Andrea Arnold Stephen Baker Vincent and Barbara Barresi Molly Blyth Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron Tobi Bruce
Catherine Campbell Claudia Christian Catherine Dean Celia Denov Emmanuelle A. Desrochers Hal Dietz Donald and Pat Dodds Kate Doorly Sophie Dorais Mathieu Doucette Melanie Egan Leslie E. Eisenberg
Lynn Feasey Britt Gallpen and Travis Vakenti Anik Glaude Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Barbara Hale Lisa R. Hartman Shawn Hassell Dianne Hayman Brittany Holliss Amy Jenkins Rozanne Junker Katarina Kupca
$5,000–$9,999 Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron Susan Carter Andrew Chodos, in honour of frontline COVID-19 workers Donald and Pat Dodds Elske and Jim Kofman $2,500–$4,999 Jackman Foundation Charles Kingsley Hesty Leibtag The Michael and Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation Susan Ollila
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Summer 2021
IMPACT UPDATE
The Ikajuqtiit Circle changes lives all year long. Members of the Ikajuqtiit Circle—those who help—are caring donors who protect and nurture the Inuit art community. As Ikajuqtiit Circle members, you provide opportunities for artists to explore their practices, learn new skills and grow. You raise global awareness and appreciation of Inuit art. The generous Ikajuqtiit Circle members listed in these pages make all this and more possible. Your support is especially critical now in these uncertain times. Thank you! Gifts made between March 31, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
Michael and Melanie Southern David Sproule, in memory of Jean Katherine Sproule Marie-Josée Therrien Barb Turner Gail Vanstone Manon Vennat CM Westchester Community Foundation, Bell-Jacoby Family Fund Craig Wilbanks and Monty Kehl Norman Zepp and Judith Varga Zynga
Illannarijaujut Tunngavinngmit $500–$999 James R. Abel, in honour of Xanthipi L. Abel Carole Ahmad and Family Alaska on Madison Shelley Ambrose
Rebecca Lee, in honour of David Lee Mike and Cindy MacMillan Samia Madwar, in honour of Hazar Shawaf Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Roxanne McCaig Kathleen and Brian Metcalf Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd
Arctic Co-operatives Limited Jim Bader and Merri Van Dyke Stephen Baker Devony Baugh Jean Blane Rev. Gary Boratto Elise Brais Suzanne Brais, in memory of Clare and Phil Brais Tobi Bruce Lisa-Margaret Bryan Jamie Cameron, in honour of Judy Hauserman Catherine Campbell CarData - John Domsy Lili Chester Geofffrey E. Clark and Martha Fuller Clark Mary-Dailey and Paul Desmarais III Hal Dietz Nathalie Ducamp Lyyli Elliott Yvonne and David Fleck Peter and Deirdre Gardner Gillian Graham Carol Gray
Linda Grussani P. Hall Cary Hart, in memoriam of Margaret Smith-Burke Molly K. Heines and Thomas J. Moloney Bryan Hellwig, Iqaluit Nunavut Carol Heppenstall Rick Hiebert Margaret and Roger Horton Chuck Hudson Christine Hunter, in honour of Susan Hawkins Heather Igloliorte and Mathew Brulotte Lou Jungheim and Thalia Nicas Carola Kaegi Drs. Charles Kennel and Ellen Lehman Dwaine and Leslie King Rawlson King A. Bernhard Kliefoth Jerry and Gail Korpan Lori Labatt Dr. Simon Lappi Val Lem
Mark London Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Kathleen and Brian Metcalfe Mary-Ann Metrick, in memory of Cécile Metrick Metrix Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd Allan P. Newell Nadine Nickner and Harald Finkler Mike and Brenda Noone Lee and Sharon Oberlander Martin Pâquet Mark Pincus Frank Reid and Amparo Maya Margerit Roger, in memory of Dieter Roger Susan Rowley H. Sanford and Deborah Riley Leslie Saxon West Richard Sourkes Harriet Stairs Amalia Steinberg Suncor Energy Carol J. Thrun
Stephen Morris, in memory of Aqjangayuk Shaa Clifford Papke Aarohi Patel Kara Pearce Ann Posen, in honour of David Braidberg Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart The Procida Family Eva Riis-Culver Bruno Savoie
Leslie Saxon West Joanne Schmidt, in loving memory of Gail Schmidt Michael and Melanie Southern Joyce and Fred Sparling C. Spencer David Sproule, in memory of Jean Katherine Sproule Suncor Energy Jacek Szulc Emilie Tremblay Gail Vanstone
Nicholas Wattson Gord and Laurie Webster Claude M. Weil, in honour of Jim Shirley Elka Weinstein Peggy J. Weller Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis Jayne Wilkinson Rahim Yeung and 5 anonymous donors, and one anonymous Inuit art appreciator
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO SUPPORT ARTISTS, PLEASE CONTACT US AT 647-498-7717 OR VISIT US ONLINE AT INUITARTFOUNDATION.ORG. AS A REGISTERED CHARITY IN CANADA (#121033724RR001) AND THE UNITED STATES (#980140282), THE IAF WELCOMES DONATIONS, SPONSORSHIPS, LEGACY GIFTS AND IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.
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IMPACT UPDATE
COURTESY THE ARTIST
Joel Umlas Paddy Wales Jaan Whitehead Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis Catherine Wilkes Rahim Yeung Mark and Margie Zivin and seven anonymous donors [1 ,4 ] $250–$499 Diane Abbey-Livingston and Jack Livingston Amy Adams Manasie Paniloo Akpaliapik John and Sylvia Aldrich Lea Algar-Moscoe Eleanor Allgood Jane and Wallace Altes Bea Alvarez Mary Anglim Eric Anoee Jr. Diana Antoon R. Armstrong Sue Asquith Anne Claude Bacon Birgit Både Catherine Badke H. Mary Balint
Introduced to Inuit Art Quarterly readers in the Spring 2019 issue as the featured Profile artist, Katherine Takpannie is an accomplished photographer and writer based in Ottawa, ON. The IAQ has followed her work and reported on her numerous group and solo exhibitions, as well as her recent win of the prestigious Scotiabank New Generation Photography Award. She seeks to teach others about Inuit culture through her art and to create understanding about the past and present.
Eric Barnum Heather M. Beecroft Brian Belchamber Diane Biehl Jurg and Christel Bieri Catherine Birt Cathy Black Bladholm Family, in memory of Terry Bladholm Molly Blyth Amanda Boetzkes Dianne Bohonis, in honour of Peter Bohonis Stephen and Hazel Borys Francois Boucher Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron, in honour of Constance Bredt Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron, in honour of Dorothy Cameron Woody Brown and Christa Ouimet, in memory of Susan Oster Kaaren Brown Stephen Bulger Judith Varney Burch David Burns Kevin Burns John and Elaine Butcher
David Caesar Dorothy W. Caldwell Mary F. Campbell Peter and Carol Camfield Laurence Castella Bernie and Roger Caswell, in loving memory of Moya Antonia Gillett (O'Leary) Paul E. Cawein Susan Charlesworth David Cherepacha Shelley Chochinov Claudia Christian Clive Clark Linda Cleman, in memory of Fred Cleman Jeffrey Cobb, in memory of Justin Lyman Cobb III Karen Coflin Carol A. Cole Louise Collins Brian and Lauri Connell, in memory of Claud Borchardt Norma Costas Donna Cowan Cowley Abbott Fine Art Scott Cressman Drs. Raymond and Charlene Currie Fred and Mary Cutler
George Dark Gordon Davidson Clint Davis and Hillary Thatcher Tania De Rozario Catherine Dean Anne-Marie Delaunay-Danizio Machelle Denison, in memory of Claus Borchardt Paulette Dennis Celia Denov Emmanuelle A. Desrochers Leanne Di Monte Nadine Di Monte Kate Doorly Sophie Dorais Mathieu Doucette François Dumaine Melanie Egan Leslie E. Eisenberg Lynne and John Eramo Leah Erickson Keith R. Evans, QC Andy Fallas Lynn Feasey Shirley Finfrock Sibyl Frei Ed Friedman Paula Frisch Joanne and Richard Fuerst
LEFT
Following her win of a New Generation Photography Award at the end of last year, Katherine Takpannie shows her work at the Olga Korper Gallery in Toronto, ON in the group exhibition Starting Over...Again (2021). Pictured here from left to right, her works Katajuq (2020), Amautik (2020), Qulliq (2020). COURTESY THE ARTIST AND OLGA KORPER GALLERY
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Summer 2021
IMPACT UPDATE
Gaining exposure through print and online is one important part of building a career, and I am pleased to have the chance to share my work through the IAQ. IAF donors have supported me and my work by providing and connecting me with opportunities. I wouldn’t have been able to win the 2020 New Generation Photography Award without that kind of support! KATHERINE TAKPANNIE
Galerie d'art Vincent Susan Gallpen Paul G. Gemmiti Surabhi Ghosh, in honour of Jashiben Nayak Doreen Girling Anik Glaude Dolores Luis Gmitter Carole Gobeil Claire S. Gold Peter Gold and Athalie Joy Deborah D. Gordon Karen and George Gorsline Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Nelson Graburn, in honour of Eli Sallualuk Qirnuajuak Puvirnitumiutak Le Grand Élan Bob Ludwig and Susan Baum John Maounis, in honour of Margaret S. Bursaw Anna Rita Migliaccio Valentin Erich Mihut, in the name of Orosz Kinga Tommy Niviaxie Alex and Ann Pappas and nine anonymous donors ], one anonymous [8 Inuit Art appreciator
$100–$249 Elizabeth P. Ball Emily Deming Huw Eirug, Nunavut Film Development Corporation Britt Gallpen and Travis Vakenti Patricia Grattan Mark Gustafson Jean Haalboom, in memory of Claus Paul Borchardt Dave Haber and Dominique Ritter Liz Haines Erik Haites, on behalf of John Goeghegan Barbara Hale Linda Ham Andrea Hamilton Tekla Harms Sally Hart Celia Harte Lisa R. Hartman Ainslie Harvey Clive Harvey Ian Harvey Shawn Hassell Dianne Hayman Janet Heagle Heliographics
Laurie Herd Ingo Hessel Jackie Hatherly-Martin and Keith Martin Josh Heuman and Gary Horenkamp Charles J. Hilton Debby and Brian Hirsch Linda Hodgson Brittany Holliss Albert and Femmeke Holthuis David Homan Jane Horner Dale Horwitz Warren Howard Jacqueline Hynes James Igloliorte Mandy Ilk Iris Susan A. Ivory, in memory of Melvin A. Ivory Lynn Jackson Marion "Mame" Jackson Dr. J. Jackson-Thompson, in honour of Dr. Richard C. Thompson Drs. Laurence and Katherine Jacobs Amy Jenkins
Sharon Jorgens, with thanks to Erik Haites Melinda Josie Rozanne Junker Els Kavanagh Jennipher Kean, in honour of Elizabeth O'Grady Sonya Kelliher-Combs Anne Kelly Drs. Charles Kennel and Ellen Lehman Nancy Keppelman and Mike Smerza Cathy Kirkpatrick Lynne D. Klemmer Jo-Ann Kolmes Mary Kostman Sharon Kozicki Christine Lalonde Dr. Virginia Lavin Carolyn Lawson Dianne Lawson Randy Lazarus Colleen Leduc Nancy Lee Rebecca Lee, in honour of David Lee William Lee Gordon Leggett
RIGHT
Katherine Takpannie celebrates her win of the 2020 Scotiabank New Generation Photography Award by posting a thank-you message to the IAF on social media. COURTESY THE ARTIST
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IMPACT UPDATE
COURTESY THE ARTIST
Genevieve LeMoine, in honor of Meredith MacEachern Linda R. Lewis Julie L'Heureux Susan Lifton Joe and Sandra Lintz Kenneth R. Lister Daryl and Marilyn Logan Louise Logan Denis Longchamps Marie A. Loyer Simone Ludlow, on behalf of Max and Karl Crain Ann MacDonald Lois MacDonald Mike and Cindy MacMillan Catherine Madsen Samia Madwar, in honour of Hazar Shawaf Nagesh Mahanthappa Alan Mak Peter Malkin Jan Manson George E. Marcus Dr. Neil and Elaine Margolis Brett Marshall The Honourable Paul Mayer Jim and Mary Alice Mayerle Irene Mazurkewich Roxanne McCaig
Often exploring memory and personal narratives through her work, Halifax-based artist Megan Kyak-Monteith’s work first appeared in the Inuit Art Quarterly in 2018. Kyak-Monteith collaborated with artist and writer Heather Campbell, providing illustrations for “The Teehee Rock,” which was published in the Spring 2019 issue of the IAQ. Her work, Iceberg (2018), graced the cover of the Winter 2020 issue and she was the subject of the Feature “Matchbox Mountaintops” by Tarralik Duffy.
Clifford Papke Maria Parsons Aarohi Patel Kara Pearce Kate Permut Don Pether William Phillips André Picard, in support of creation and dreaming A. A. Piccini Ed Pien Richard and Annette Pivnick William M. and LuAnn S. Polk William and Joanne Prieur The Procida Family Prue Rains Isabelle Ranger Sharlene Rankin Blaine Rapp, in memory of Helen Rapp Bayard D. Rea Leslie Reid Timothy W. Reinig Jim and Shelly Renner Bruce Rice Mark Rieger Eva Riis-Culver Miz Mickey Rinalli Marcia Rioux Tom Robbins
Alison and Bruce McDonald Lindsay McIntyre Elizabeth McKeown P. McKeown G. Lester and Phyllis McKinnon Tess Saare McLean Brian McLeod Meesschaert-Verheyen Family Joanna Miazga Robert Michaud James Miller Nancy Moore Gabriel Moreau Lise Morneau-Rousson and Yves Morneau Stephen Morris, in memory of Aqjangayuk Shaa Alexa and Robert Muller Scott Mullin Sophia Muylwyk Nanooq Inuit Art Gary B. Nelson Mary Nelson Susan Newlove Shannon Norberg and Jarvis Hall Suzanne O'Hara Louisa L. O'Reilly Hal and Donna Olsen Dr. Robert Olson
Bruce Roberts Joan Robertson Kerstin Roger Greg Rogers, in honour of Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik, 2020 Gold winner for National Magazine Awards Short Feature Writing Sheila Romalis, in memory of Lorne Balshine Gabriel J. Rosenberg, MD Simon Rosenblum Richard and Yvonne Rothenberg Charlie Rubin Margaret Rundall Kassie Ruth Michael Ryan Judith Rycus Lynne B. Sagalyn Joseph Salkowitz, DMD Dr. Jinder Sall Alexa Samuels Paula Santrach Bruno Savoie James Schmidt Joanne Schmidt, in loving memory of Gail Schmidt Matt Schmidt Barbara F. Schweger Jeffrey Seidman
LEFT
During her first exhibition opening at Teichert Gallery, Halifax, NS, Megan Kyak-Monteith stands with her work The Whale Hunt (2018). This work was reproduced in the Inuit Art Quarterly’s Profile featuring Kyak-Monteith. COURTESY THE ARTIST
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IMPACT UPDATE
The Inuit Art Quarterly is incredibly important to the Inuit art community; the ease of access to the art and stories within these pages across Canada and beyond gives Inuit and their art a voice. In 2018, I was the subject of a Profile in the IAQ while I was still in university and that meant so much to me and my career. It has led many people to me and to many illustration projects, gallery shows and friendships. I am sincerely proud of everyone I see within these pages.” MEGAN KYAK-MONTEITH
Douglas Selley Turid Senungetuk, in memory of Ron Senungetuk Jean Servizi Kerren Shalanski Elika Shapiro Mark Shiner Katrina Simmons, in memory of Claus Borchardt Scenery Slater Liz Smeloff Eleni Smolen Scott Snowden Joyce and Fred Sparling C. Spencer Robert Stafford Elizabeth Steinbrueck Colleen Suche Cedar Swan Jacek Szulc Dr. Charles Haskell Tator E. Taubman C.K. Tessier Jay and Deborah Thomson Ann Tompkins Diana Trafford Emilie Tremblay Roslyn Tunis Dr. Anne Vagi Teri and Jerry Vakenti
Up to $99 A friend of Inuit art Ariell Ahearn-Ligham Terry Allison Anne Altern Judy Archer Andrea Arnold Andrew and Lynn Barlow, in memory of Claus Borchardt John Barlow Pat Bavin Heather Belbin Eunice Bélidor Beverly Biderman Susanna Biro Catherine Black Seven Blond Alicia Bojkov Karen Bradfield Bill Bradley M. L. Breinig Laurie Anne Brewer Jennifer Brown Canada Helps Jim and Cindy Carter Mark Cheetham and Elizabeth Harvey Nancy Cleman Maria Coates Cobalt Art Gallery
Peg and Peter Van Brunt James and Louise Vesper Nancy Walkling, in memory of Frank Walkling Garnet Ward Brenda and Robert Watson Mary Jo Watson Nicholas Wattson Lowell Waxman John Weber, in honour of Mary MacDonald Gord and Laurie Webster Claude M. Weil, in honour of Jim Shirley Elka Weinstein Peggy J. Weller Karen Westrell and Bill Rosser Scott White Mark and Margaret Whitley Amanda Whitney Mike and Val Wiles Jayne Wilkinson Robert A. Wolf Judy Wolfe Christopher Wood Susan Wortzman Dallas D. Young Bea Zizlavsky and 17 anonymous donors [3 ,12 , 1 ]
Zoe Colon Sylvie Cornez Rob Cowley and Harmonie May Charles Crockford Dennis Crowley Anastasiia Danylova Patrick Davis Shirley Dawe Tovah Delmont Sharon Dembo Wilfrid Denis and J. Poulin Noelle DeSouza Krista Dieckamp Kristin Dowell Mary Edwards Stephanie Ellis Sherry Farrell Racette David Feiglin Chun Fong Alison Freebairn Shelby Glenn Gear Rebecca Gimmi Dara Gordon, in honour of Morgan and Richard Zigler whose lives are forever bound together by their love for and connection to the arts, education and the Arctic
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Megan Kyak-Monteith working on an animated version of her painting Large Feast on Bed of Cardboard (2018) following her first IAQ Profile. The animation was part of a collaborative exhibition produced by The Glam Collective and installed during Nuit Blanche Festival, 2019. PHOTO OSSIE MICHELIN
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IMPACT UPDATE
Goretti Kakuktinniq is the current Business Advisor for Cultural Industries at Nunavut Development Corporation (NDC) in Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), NU. In her work for NDC, Kakuktinniq promotes Inuit artists and purchases work to be sold at retail stores in Nunavut. She also supports Inuit artists through her donations to the Inuit Art Foundation. COURTESY GORETTI KAKUKTINNIQ
Susan Griswold T.E. Gruber Edward Guyette and Beth Vienot Erik Haites on behalf of Christa Ouimet John A. Hanjian Kathryn Hanna Beatrice Hanson John Hart Sara Hassan Deanna Haycock, for Chloe Gust Elizabeth Hayes, in memory of Claus Borchardt Anna Hevesy Mark Hirschman David Hollenberg and Linda Bantel, in memory of John Maounis George Hope Andrew P. Hubbertz Moira Hudgin Allan Hughes Cana Itchuaqiyaq Jacobs Heather Jessiman Yui Kawasaki Rochelle Konn Nga Kotahi Aotearoa
Peter Kovacik Gary and Susan Kurylo Magdalen Lau Gretchen Lawrie Niamh Leonard Oriel MacLennan Sophie Mailloux Michael Massie David and Maida Maxham Lindsay McCoubrey Liam McKenna Marla Mckenna Patrick A. McLean Joanna P. McMann Connor Mellegers Mireille Menard A. C. Merrill Mary Jane Mikkelsen Mrs. Margaret Morse Suzanne Nash Lou Nelson Shadreck Nyathi Zella Osberg Annie Paquin Morna Paterson Louisa Pauyungie Sr. Robert Pilot Danica Pinteric Patricia Porteous
Steve Potocny and Anne Milochik Hélène Poulin Henriette Rico Elizabeth Robinson Marilyn Robinson Henrietta Roi Irene Rokaw Anita Romaniuk Katie Rosa Robert Rosenbaum Dedicated to Paula and Paul Rostrup Susan and Joseph Rountree Jonathan Rutchik and family Rasoul Salehi Genevieve Sartor Rosmarie Schreiber Claude Schryer Kathryn Scott Patricia Scott Paul A. Shackel Shelby Toni Skokovic Cindy Skrukwa Gregory Sonek Marjorie Sorrell Ann Sprayregen Keisha Stefanska Martha Stewart
Jennifer Stoots, in honour of Louie Palu and Chloe Coleman Tom Suber Gray Taylor Jowi Taylor, Six String Nation Rebecca Taylor, on behalf of Krista Amy Thompson Bertha K. Thompson Hunter Thompson Kitty Thorne Gunta Towsley, in honour of Anne Borchardt Darlene Tymn Jon Vickery Peeranut Visetsuth Charles M. Voirin C. von Harringa Larysa Voss Helen Webster Ellen Whelan Daphne Wright and John Martin Daphne Young, for Grams, who loved every one of us Jean Zazelenchuk and 13 anonymous donors [1 ,1 , 1 , 5 , 1 ]
Inuit Art Foundation, as an organization dedicated to representing Inuit art and culture to not only Canadian but international audiences, plays a crucial role in advocating for Inuit on many platforms. It is able to reach out and connect the most geographically remote communities of Canada to the rest of the world. Supporting the Inuit Art Foundation means that we keep building and growing these connections.” GORETTI KAKUKTINNIQ
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Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award $10,000 prize to the winner $3,000 to each shortlisted artist Celebrating the life and legacy of artist Kenojuak Ashevak, CC, RCA, who championed future generations of artists, this award is open to mid-career and established Inuit artists working in visual and performance-based practices.
Nominations close June 25, 2021 @ Midnight EST For more information and to nominate an artist visit inuitartfoundation.org/artist-programs/kenojuak-ashevak-memorial-award
Thank you to the generous donors who have made the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award possible. You can support artistic creation through the award. Donate today at inuitartfoundation.org/donate Image credit: Kenojuak Ashevak, Preening Owl, 1995. Reproduced with permission Dorset Fine Arts © The Artist
5 WORKS
Feast for the Eyes IAF staff share their favourite works that are sure to satiate
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Holly Andersen (b. 1984 Makkovik) — Sustenance 2016 Ink jet print 61 × 91.5 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST
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Eva Puviniq Tuniq Ilimasaut
Untitled (2005) After a long day of hunting or fishing, nothing is more cherished and wellearned than a warm meal at home. In this wall hanging, Eva Puviniq Tuniq Ilimasaut (1935–2008) welcomes us to step behind the hardened snow of iglu walls, pull up a seat and join in feasting with an Inuk unseen. Kamiik and gloves in vibrant orange, yellow and purple dry above the warmth of a lit qulliq. A kettle is being brought to a boil and two white cups sit on the table, waiting to be filled. A sky-blue pot is suspended in the air, presumably full to the brim with the night’s meal. Despite never seeing a face, this piece invokes feelings of familiarity and comfort, like we are visiting with a long-time friend. Ilimasaut’s wall hanging illustrates how feasting is more than just satiating hunger and nourishing our bodies—it is about feeding our connections to each other as well.
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Elisapee Ishulutaq, OC
Mikiaktookou (Eating Raw Meat) (1984) Five Inuit and a seal sit in a circle, gathered around to feast on mikigaq, or raw meat. Elisapee Ishulutaq, OC (1925–2018) renders a familiar scene of food sharing with a fresh perspective, giving us a bird’s-eye view. From this vantage point, the figures are foreshortened in such a way that emphasizes their round, plump bodies, kept nourished and warm by the nutritious raw meat they come together to chow down on. Each figure is filled in with soft gradients of green,
brown and blue, surrounded by the important tools used to hunt and prepare the country food they share. Ishulutaq’s circular composition and choice of earthy tones suggest references to the cycles of nature, emphasizing the reciprocal relationship between Inuit, the land, water and animals. LEANNE INUARAK-DALL
Contributing Editor
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Elisapee Ishulutaq (1925–2018 Panniqtuuq) — Mikiaktookou (Eating Raw Meat) 1984 Printmaker Enukee Akulujuk Stencil 36.5 × 48 cm
Eva Puviniq Tuniq Ilimasaut (1935–2008 Kangiqsujuaq) — Untitled 2005 Fibre and felt 93 × 91 cm
COURTESY COWAN'S AUCTIONS
© AVATAQ CULTURAL INSTITUTE
Inuit Art Quarterly
LISA FRENETTE
Associate Editor
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Holly Andersen
Sustenance (2016) In this compelling photograph, Holly Andersen has captured a moment that every Nunatsiavummiuk has likely witnessed countless times throughout their lives—the butchering of a seal—and the meat will undoubtedly be shared with family and community members. Andersen has judiciously chosen to present this scene in black and white. Removing colour, and subsequently
the associations with saturated reds, we can look beyond the visceral (both literal and figurative) to appreciate the beauty in these forms. The striations, undulating layers and contrasting textures hover on the border of abstraction, enticing us to take a closer look. HEATHER CAMPBELL
Strategic Initiatives Director
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Peter Pitseolak
A Feast of Char (1975)
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John Kohoktak
Igloo Interior Scene with Man Preparing Meat (n.d.)
There is so much to love in this image— the vivid oranges, the dilated pleasure visible in the subject’s huge eyes and the mesmerized child popping out of her amauti. My attention is immediately rapt by the woman’s ulu, held up to her face as she cuts off a chewable-sized piece of fish. It reminds me of growing up, watching adults do things that I aspired to someday. One of those was to learn the deft skill of handling sharp blades. It takes respect and awareness to hold a sharp ulu up to your lips and slice meat directly into your mouth with confidence. In this beautiful print, Peter Pitseolak (1902–1973) captures the ecstasy of quelling your rumbling hunger with the freshest of char. NAPATSI FOLGER
Associate Editor Encapsulated within this tiny shelter is a place of refuge from the cold and wind. Removing the stone domed top, we find a humble scene of feasting, of bounty. John Kohoktak painstakingly uncovers delicate details from stone, muskox horn, copper and wood. A hunter sits next to his seal, the freshly harvested chunks of meat arranged neatly in containers around his iglu. His careful placement and organization displays reverence for the animal, whose given life provides nourishment. In Inuit culture, we give thanks to nature for providing what we need to survive. The happiness on the hunter’s face shows this perfectly—every meal is treasured.
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John Kohoktak (b. 1931 Kugluktuk) — Igloo Interior Scene with Man Preparing Meat n.d. Stone, copper, muskox horn and wood 6.4 × 8.9 × 10.8 cm COURTESY WADDINGTON’S AUCTIONEERS AND APPRAISERS, TORONTO
BRONSON JACQUE
Contributing Editor Interiors
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ABOVE
Peter Pitseolak (1902–1973 Kinngait) — A Feast of Char 1975 Printmaker Pitseolak Niviaqsi Lithograph 60.9 × 45.7 cm
REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
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photo: Lindsay Reid
Curated by HEATHER IGLOLIORTE ASINNAJAQ KRISTA ULUJUK ZAWADSKI KABLUSIAK
On until DECEMBER 2021 wag.ca/inua
WINNIPEG ART GALLERY—QAUMAJUQ 300 Memorial Blvd. Winnipeg MB Canada
Presented by
CHOICE
Kakulu Saggiaktok Hot Pot
by Kailey Sheppard
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This masterfully crafted etching speaks to both the whimsical nature and the practicality of the artist— Saggiaktok drew from her day-to-day life and surroundings while also incorporating her vivid creativity and wit.
The late Kakulu Saggiaktok (1940–2020) had an exciting start to life when she was born on board the R.M.S. Nascopie. She moved to Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, as a child where she began to draw in the early 1960s at the local printmaking studio. She has spoken about the joy she found in drawing Sedna, birds, belugas and seals. In this 2001 etching by Saggiaktok titled Hot Pot, her love shines through on a teapot embellished with birds. The work of Saggiaktok is imaginative and creative, something for which she is renowned and is apparent in this particular artwork. This masterfully crafted etching speaks to both the whimsical nature and the practicality of the artist—Saggiaktok drew from her day-to-day life and surroundings while also incorporating her vivid creativity and wit. The four white birds central to the work almost dance in the radiant orange glow, which, at a glimpse, can understandably be mistaken for flames—fitting for a piece with the title Hot Pot. It is that very warm glow found at the heart of the teapot that reminds me of the comfort brought about by a hot beverage and the atmosphere surrounding the domestic ritual. The peering eye of the goose is comparable to myself in the mornings—half awake and meandering to the kitchen to make a habitual cup of tea or coffee, while the glow within the pot parallels the mellow calm that follows the first sip.
Another captivating aspect is the playful use of the birds in the construction of the teapot itself. This type of transmogrification is a common theme in Saggiaktok’s work. I am enamoured with her use of contrast; this principle of art is a personal favourite as it is visually striking and readable even from afar. Many people do not take the time to approach an artwork and appreciate all of the finer details. But I am a firm believer that it is important for a piece to make an impact from a distance and to have the potential to draw in an otherwise disinterested individual. This is something Hot Pot does well. As an artist I have always appreciated a strong, eye-catching piece, with my artistic goal being to share parts of myself and to have them be known—something I think Saggiaktok and I would have seen eye-to-eye on. She is quoted by Dorset Fine Arts saying, “It’s always a good feeling when you see your artwork published and know that people appreciate it.” This is a sentiment that I agree with wholeheartedly. Kakulu Saggiaktok has left a legacy that will be appreciated by many for years to come. — Kailey Sheppard is a Labrador Inuit artist based in southern Manitoba, primarily working in illustration and murals. Their work has been featured most notably by CBC and the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Manitoba.
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Kakulu Saggiaktok (1940–2020 Kinngait) — Hot Pot 2001 Printmaker Studio PM Etching and aquatint 60.3 × 66.7 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
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CHOICE
Seqininnguaq Poulsen Marloqiusaq
by Olivia Thomassie
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Summer 2021
CHOICE
OPPOSITE
Seqininnguaq Qitura Poulsen (b. 2001 Greenland) — Marloqiusaq 2020 Watercolour 42 × 30 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST
It has been 73 years since James Houston, OC, first arrived in Nunavik and found Inuit art. He brought some of the first Inuit artworks to southern galleries, where they quickly gained in popularity with non-Inuit people. While this is an important moment in our history, many people who are unaware of our culture have paused our reality to that time. It sometimes feels like our history is advancing in a parallel universe to southern Canadians. My generation, and the ones after, have always known life with electricity. Growing up, we didn’t always understand our heritage and the meaning of being Inuk. We heard hunting stories from our elders. My aunts and uncles recall the Hudson’s Bay Company and how they grew up to see their villages turning from cabins to houses with modern-day technologies. The nomadic lives of our ancestors are a mystery to people like me who are living in between the two worlds. We are at an ambiguous moment in our history where we are working hard to re-appropriate parts of our culture that have been forgotten, while having new interests and influences coming from all over the world. Not only Inuit or Indigenous people, but other cultures in Canada have been simplified to exotic ideas without any nuances. While many aspects of our Inuit culture have been kept, such as hunting, fishing and berry picking, some knowledges
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are under threat of extinction. There are people working extremely hard to keep traces of this knowledge alive. I grew up in the city with barely any examples of Inuit or Indigenous models. Once in my art history class in college, there was a brief lesson about Indigenous art that only spoke about crafts made decades ago. I had to put myself out there to meet Indigenous and Inuit artists through various organizations to finally witness their true beauty and diversity. I have learned family stories and seen their achievements and their love stories in these creations. I have met Inuit from other regions and learned about their own histories, their languages, as well as our cultural similarities and differences. Working with artists has not only given me the opportunity to see wonderful artwork, but also made me grow as a person. One of the artists I had the chance to meet is Seqininnguaq Poulsen. Although they are from Greenland, we share similar experiences. We both travelled, got into activism, and most importantly, we reconnected with our Indigenous identities and culture. Seqininnguaq makes watercolour portraits that are great examples of our generation’s values. They are colourful, vibrant and could provoke apoplectic feelings in some viewers because of Seqininninguaq’s comfort with exposing nudity in their art. They also portray tunniit,
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as seen in their work titled Marloqiusaq (2020), which was used for the cover of Uyarakq’s song “Move, I’m Indigenous.” As Inuit, we don’t know all the meanings related to the tunniit since the practice was banned, and many elders who knew about their meanings have passed away. There were few traces of them in archives, but since we don’t know everything, some Inuit are now defining their own meanings in their personal rituals of getting tunniit. In Marloqiusaq, Seqininnguaq uses women’s and men’s tunniit to showcase gender fluidity. Their work shows resilience, acceptance and healing. I can understand Seqininnguaq’s work more than ones from my parent’s or grandparent’s generations. We are young artists trying to establish ourselves in the art industry while being Inuk and trying to find ourselves as we grow in our identity. Our interests are vast, and we went through the same phases and trends as most other youth. As we cherish our ancestors’ culture and re-appropriate the knowledge, we are also redefining what being Inuk means. — Olivia Thomassie is a young artist and activist who works at Avataq Cultural Institute as a program agent to support Nunavik artists. She makes beaded pieces and has directed three films with the Wapikoni Mobile.
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ARTISTS' CORNER
Supporting Artists to Create The Inuit Art Foundation works to connect artists with opportunities to create and expand their practices. This year, the IAF partnered with the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) as a third-party recommender for the Indigenous Visual Artists Materials (IVAM) grant program. IVAM supports Ontario-based Indigenous artists to create artwork by funding material costs up to $1,000. The IAF is a third-party recommender that promotes and helps to administer the program. In 2020–21 the IAF awarded grants to nine artists providing a total of $8,500 in funding. We are pleased to feature a selection of those artists here.
COURTESY THE ARTIST PHOTO JULIA SOUDAT
Mark Bennett The grant helped make it possible to continue exploring the connection with my identity through my work. I was able to purchase the supplies I needed which is helping bring this narrative to life.
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Mark Bennett (b. 1984 Toronto) — Undress 2021 Screenprint 112 × 76 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST
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ARTISTS' CORNER
COURTESY THE ARTIST
Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona The IVAM grant gave me the financial freedom to buy a stock of materials to keep on hand. It’s been hard to find art supplies during the pandemic, which made it very hard to plan for print editions. Now I can plan ahead, knowing I have enough ink and paper to make the pieces I have in mind and support myself. In addition, the grant was my first-ever artist grant. I became an artist during the pandemic. The grant gave me a boost of validation to keep making art, knowing I have a future in this wonderful career. COURTESY THE ARTIST
Barry Pottle The Indigenous Visual Artistss Materials Grant has allowed me to explore and experiment with my art practice, something I otherwise would not have had an opportunity to do. Tauttuit (colours) is comprised of five dyed sealskins and one natural colour sealskin that are either restretched on traditional frames and/or in contemporary gallery frames depending on costs and availability of materials, as the current pandemic has severely limited access and distribution to lumber and materials. I want to juxtapose the sealskins with several colour images in printed format to be stretched across a wood frame (like traditional framed sealskins). My goal is to develop the Tauttuit series into an exhibition, or to partner with an institution to exhibit the works or to find a media outlet (art magazine) for promotion or an article on the Tauttuit series. COURTESY THE ARTIST
Applications for the 2021–22 IVAM program will open in Fall 2021. For more information visit arts.on.ca/grants/indigenous-visual-artists-materials
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PROFILE
Karis Gruben
by Alicia Bojkov
For Karis Gruben, a multidisciplinary artist from Inuvik, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, a lifelong devotion to the arts seemed inevitable. Gruben was exposed to many artistic practices, having accompanied her late father—the accomplished carver William Gruben (1956–2009)—to various galleries throughout her youth, notably The Snow Goose Gallery in Ottawa, ON. Today Gruben is an accomplished painter, carver and beader, who diversifies her practice whilst maintaining a thread of tenderness throughout her body of work. Heavily influenced by the likes of Claude Monet and Mark Inuit Art Quarterly
Rothko, Gruben’s tenderness comes through capturing subtleties in natural forms. As a child Gruben was drawn to pencil sketching and soon began to explore acrylic painting. Favouring the forgiving qualities of acrylics, she recalls, “I liked the idea that if you mess up that, you don’t have to erase everything—that you can paint over it or keep going with it and it’ll end up where you want it to be eventually.” To this day, Gruben’s acrylic works present a softened sense of realism that accentuates the vitality of the female form. Untitled, Blue #2 (2019) embodies this aspect, as the cool 26
blue-grey tones of the figure’s skin are contrasted by the sharp delineation of the clavicle and neck. Gruben’s astute use of colour dampens the sense of tension brought on by the figure’s taut tendons and bones, removing the work from the realm of actuality. While growing up, Gruben was introduced to other art forms, namely beading, through after-school programs and their prolificity in Inuvik. Gruben credits her father’s encouragement—allowing her to handle and aid in the creation of his carvings— for giving her confidence. His successful career assured her that the pursuit of art was a real possibility. After the passing of her father in 2009, Gruben relocated to Ottawa with few personal belongings and one of his unfinished carvings. It was in 2010 when Gruben first began collaborating with or finishing her father’s incomplete works. Gruben describes the experience as a mark of reconciliation with her father’s passing. Within the past year, revisiting her father’s incomplete carvings has retaken a central role in her practice. She calls the artistic endeavour “a reconnection to being away from the North for so long.” After living in Ottawa for the last decade, Gruben recently moved back to Nunatsiaq (Northwest Territories) and is now based out of Yellowknife. On living in Ottawa, Gruben recalls how she “separated [her-] self from the traditions and the stories [she] missed out on.” Through reimagining her father’s unfinished pieces and moving back to the North, Gruben hopes to reconnect with her Inuvialuit culture and “the traditions and legends that come with these unfinished pieces.” The spirit of tradition and experimentation is also seen in Gruben’s most recent beading-on-canvas pieces. The delicacy of Gruben’s beading softens the hard, earthygreen canvas of her latest work in progress and offers the painted cloudberries a jewellike glimmer. Beads of royal blue, turquoise and lilac connect the three plump berries to the night sky, recalling the colours of the northern lights and the tundra’s forest floor. Meanwhile, a glimpse of Gruben’s latest artistic undertaking, caribou tufting, can Summer 2021
PROFILE
OPPOSITE
Karis Gruben (b. 1991 Yellowknife) — Dancing Bear 2020 Ivory 5.1 × 2.5 cm
ALL COURTESY THE ARTIST
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Untitled, Blue #2 2019 Acrylic 50.8 × 40.6 cm BELOW
Mixed media Akpiks (Work In Progress) 2020–ongoing Acrylic, beads and hand-dyed caribou hair 20.3 cm across
also be seen in this piece as white, wispy tufts begin to emerge from the tops of each orange berry. The addition of the dyed caribou hair emulates the velvety-smooth texture of cloudberries themselves. Innately northern iconography and themes will continue to be central in Gruben’s work as the artist rediscovers the surreal beauty of the Nunatsiaq landscape that inspired her earliest artistic endeavours. — Alicia Bojkov is a German-Canadian art historian whose scholarship focuses on fin de siècle and early-twentieth-century photography. Alicia holds a Master’s of Arts in Art History from the University of Toronto and is currently an Archival and Research Associate at Corkin Gallery in Toronto, ON. This Profile was made possible through support from the RBC Foundation’s Emerging Artists Project. Interiors
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Nunavut Gallery
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instagram.com/NunavutGallery 603 Corydon Avenue Winnipeg, MB, R3L 0P3
Pitseolak Ashoona, Family Building Igloo (1964) 24.5” x 34” May Akulukjuk Lizzie Saggiak Lynx Lonsdale (1963)Loons Curing the Blind (1980)
Ningiukulu Teevee, Painted Raven (2020)
Woman with Fish and Kakivak unidentified artist, Nunavik, ca. 1952
1444 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal H3G 1K4 www.elcalondon.com | info@elcalondon.com | 514-282-1173 Inuit Art Quarterly
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CONTEMPORARY & HISTORIC
D E TA I L O F S H U V I N A I A S H O O N A - U N T I T L E D ( 1 4 8 - 2 1 4 2 ) - 2 0 X 8 7 . 5 I N C H E S - C O L O U R E D P E N C I L & I N K
6 0 6 V I E W S T , V I C T O R I A B . C - 2 5 0 . 3 8 0 . 4 6 6 0 - W W W . M A D R O N A G A L L E R Y. C O M
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d i s n e I
by Napatsi Folger
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s that iece 5P
Display Inuit Lif e I
ors ndo
Inuit art is famous for representing the land and creatures of the outside world, on which Inuit are so dependent for survival. This Portfolio, however, features art that provides a glimpse into the intimate scenes of what happens inside. In this issue, we explore the creativity in the everyday lives of Inuit and how beautiful and extraordinary these five chosen artists render ordinary tasks such as tending fires and playing string games. The broad selection of content choices exemplifies the versatility of subject matter Inuit artists draw from when they consider what “home” means to them. Personally, home has always been defined by the individuals surrounding me rather than the structures themselves. People are also important to the artists of these five pieces. The structures may change, but the people remain.
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Luke Anguhadluq (1895–1982 Baker Lake) — Shaman Entering the Drum Dance 1977 Printmaker William Ukpatiku Silkscreen 76 × 56 cm COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY
Luke Anguhadluq Shaman Entering the Drum Dance 1977
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Anguhadluq (1895–1982) piques our imaginations with this bright and colourful print of a shaman in the antechamber of a qaggiq, about to enter the drum dance. We are further drawn into this scene by the expectant looks of the audience and drum dancers, as though we are an unexpected guest who has suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I can’t help but think of a diagram of the human brain when I look at this mesmerizing image. The shaman could be falling through
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the brain stem, mid-trance, about to embark on an extra-cerebral journey. Whatever his intentions, Anguhadluq captivates his audience with this stark image. The facial markings—tunniit for the women in the top half and facial hair for the men performing—stand out in black against their brightly painted parkas and the sunny qaggiq structure.
Inside Out
Helen Kalvak CM Game in Snowhouse 1966
A Portfolio on interiors would not be complete without an iconic Helen Kalvak, CM, (1901– 1984) iglu scene. Kalvak’s signature indicator that her figures are indoors is a simple but effective curved cross-section of snow bricks, creating a distraction-free space for her Inuit to do as they please. Here Kalvak shows them enjoying some inside game time, perhaps partaking in a little healthy competition while waiting out a storm outside. Even in stark black and white, Kalvak’s Inuit emanate bright joy with their laughing faces and dynamic poses. If you’ve ever played or observed a round of Inuit games, you can imagine the shouts and laughter that accompany such a scene. This print highlights the importance of interior spaces in fostering strong, intimate relationships. Familial bonding is a theme commonly portrayed in Inuit art, including outdoor scenes, and the communal living depicted in iglu scenes such as this gives a sense of why those bonds are so significant.
ABOVE
Helen Kalvak (1901–1984 Ulukhaktok) — Game in Snowhouse 1966 Printmaker Jimmy Memorana Stonecut 47 × 60.5 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY © THE ARTIST
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Perhaps the most playful Portfolio selection, this drawing brings immediate joy because of its bright use of colour, both in the spirit’s “string” (which looks suspiciously like its intestines) and the highlights of the woman’s azure amauti siniksak. One wonders what might drive someone to befriend and casually play string games with a spiked beast. How bad is the weather outside? Mamnguqsualuk (1930–2016) captures the relationship between teacher and pupil subtly in the faces and posture of these two figures. They each have their own strings, which is not typically how you play the childhood game. The spirit’s thoughtful, focused expression and the woman’s open mouth are hints that this woman is teaching the spirit. There are several levels of interiority at play in this piece—not only is the pair indoors, but Mamnguqsualuk shows us the innards of the creature used as a toy and brings spirituality, an intensely personal experience, out into the physical world.
Victoria Mamnguqsualuk Woman Playing String Game with Spirit 1982
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Victoria Mamnguqsualuk (1930–2016 Qamani’tuaq) — Woman Playing String Game with Spirit 1982 Coloured pencil and graphite 57 × 76.9 cm COURTESY ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO
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Inside Out
Ekidluak Komoartuk Ritual 1987 BELOW
Ekidluak Komoartuk (1923–1993 Pangnirtung) — Ritual 1987 Printmaker Solomon Karpik Etching 42.5 × 36.5 cm COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY PHOTO ERNEST MAYER
Inuit Art Quarterly
In this aptly named print, a duo performs a ritual drum dance. Drum dances were significant in different ways: there were competitions to settle disputes and to create a sense of social balance in the community, songs played as entertainment and beats performed for the benefit of shamanic trances. Komoartuk (1923–1993) appears to be depicting a lesson. Men typically composed new drum dances while out hunting and then taught their wives the songs so they could, in turn, teach the other women of the camp to sing while the men did their drumming.
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Here we see the wife happily observing her skilled husband while he and their son drop some sick beats. Komoartuk further hints at the intimacy of this scene by including several personal household items in the small iglu. Rather than a crowd of on-lookers, the family is surrounded by fish, tools and skins. The kinetic dancers are framed by the snow blocks of the iglu and ground platform, separating them from the motionless, cross-legged wife. We are welcomed into the private world of this family and into their home, where they teach and learn together before sharing their skills with the larger community.
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Mary Pudlat (1923–2001 Kinngait) — Tending the Kudlik 1993 Printmaker Aoudla Pudlat Lithograph and stencil 66.1 × 51 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY © THE ARTIST
Mary Pudlat Tending the Kudlik 1993 Pudlat (1923–2001) captures the everyday use of the qulliq in this bright scene. The warm orange hues conjure an image of a firelit iglu, free from the pop and crackle of burning wood. Instead, it glows both with the firelight and joy emanating from this woman’s face. Pudlat colours not just the flames but also her subject’s cheerful face, hands and amauti, details that highlight the warmth the qulliq provides an Inuit home.
Today the qulliq is an emblem of light and survival for Inuit and is often used to open ceremonies and commemorate important events. On the pre-colonial tundra, timber or firewood was scarce, and pieces of found driftwood were better utilized for tools and structural material. As such, these oil lamps were essential tools for Inuit survival. Qulliit not only warmed the interior of the iglu but also melted a thin layer of snow which would then re-freeze and insulate the snow structures even more.
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Inside Out
Jennie Williams (b. 1981 Nain) — Untitled 2021 Digital photograph COURTESY THE ARTIST
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The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have spread far and wide, changing the way we live, work and create. It has forced us to go inwards, physically and spiritually, as we reposition ourselves in a world turned upside down. A year on, we asked four Inuit photographers what the pandemic has meant for them in their personal life and their practice.
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Summer 2021
Chris P. Sampson
Home becomes so much more when it is also a safe haven from a global pandemic. The walls have felt a little like a fortress at times. Finding comfort at home and having a full pantry has been super important, but I also find myself framing the world through the lovely big windows in our rental: watching Orion and Sirius from our bedroom window or observing the giant maple tree in the front yard as the sun sets. Spending more time inside has made me more thankful for our view. This pandemic also reminds me of how incredibly lucky I am to have someone to lean on and trust during this very challenging time. I have never been as loved and cared for as I am now with my wife, Kelly. I hope to get back to portraiture and travel postpandemic. My favourite time to have a camera in tow is when I’m making portraits and seeking out architectural photos during travel. Photography has always been therapeutic for me and helps me really focus on the present. I’m not sure I’ve needed it more than during this time.
OPPOSITE
Chris P. Sampson (b. 1978 Happy Valley-Goose Bay) — Shredding 2021 Digital photograph ALL COURTESY THE ARTIST
ABOVE (RIGHT)
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Sirius and Orion 2021 Digital photograph
A proud Labradorian, Chris P. Sampson has lived across Canada. He eventually made his way back to Labrador after completing a Professional Photography Program on Vancouver Island in 2004. He continues to work part time as a professional photographer, and has been published and exhibited worldwide. He currently resides with his wife and cat on Nova Scotia’s South Shore.
ABOVE (LEFT)
Masks Drying 2021 Digital photograph
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Intermural
Taqralik Partridge I’m really fortunate that I have been able to work with other artists from a distance during the pandemic. At the same time, the pandemic has given me permission to focus on my immediate surroundings. I think my ideas about the value of small things have been reinforced. These times have also shown that people are much more important than things. I already knew this, but it has been underscored over the past year. The small amount of time I have been able to be with people outside my household has truly been a treasure. It’s also been really good to be at home.
— Taqralik Partridge is a writer, artist and curator originally from Nunavik and now based in Ottawa. A former Editor-at-Large for the Inuit Art Quarterly, she is the Director of the Nordic Lab at SAW, Ottawa, ON.
ABOVE
Taqralik Partridge (Ottawa) — Bisk on quarantine day two 2021 Digital photograph ALL COURTESY THE ARTIST
RIGHT
So good restaurant 2021 Digital photograph OPPOSITE
Outside shoppers on bank 2021 Digital photograph
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Summer 2021
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Intermural
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Summer 2021
OPPOSITE
Brian Adams (b. 1985 Anchorage) — Ellis looking out the front door at the beginning of lockdown 2020 Digital photograph ALL COURTESY THE ARTIST
RIGHT
Birds outside of the front of our house 2020 Digital photograph BELOW
Elliott and Ellis watching me shovel snow in December 2020 Digital photograph
Brian Adams
I love my little home. I have only been here a few years, but as a photographer who works primarily remotely, it’s been a nice home to come back to (with amazing light). Since the pandemic, the home has been much more lived in and it shows. My daughter and I have been spending a lot of time taking care of the garden and it’s been fun spending time with her out there. When I first moved into my house, I wanted it to feel kind of like a photography gallery. I spent a lot of time building a photography collection from photographers that I love and collecting books. Throughout the pandemic, I have really appreciated having those around. Being locked down during this pandemic has also really helped me appreciate the photographic community that we have been working to build for years now. I meet virtually on a regular basis with my teams at Indigenous Photograph and the 400 Years Project. Those relationships have helped me stay focused and looking towards the future. I have learned that through community, relationships and support, a photographer can make exceptional and impactful work.
— Brian Adams is a photographer based in Anchorage, Alaska, who specializes in environmental portraiture. He has been exhibited all around the world and has published two books of photography. Adams’ work has appeared in publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, National Geographic and many more.
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Intermural
Most of my photography is of people in their everyday lives. Now everyone's daily lives have changed drastically, and people are rarely seeing other people. Also, everyone is now wearing masks—everything is so different for me as a photographer who mainly takes photos of faces, crowds and people being together. Before, I mostly did projects involving other people, but this past year has changed that. Now I am drawing inspiration from my children and home life. I have also had to change the way I do my work. I am enjoying the challenge of finding new ways to adapt to how things are, and I like having to become creative in various ways to make projects work for what I do. The pandemic has changed my relationship with my interior space because now I spend the majority of my time inside my home surrounded by my family. I am really enjoying my time at home with them and I especially love having this extra time with my children. The outside world is pretty scary right now, but inside our little bubble it has been filled with tons of cuddles, smiles and love.
Jennie Williams
— Jennie Williams is an Inuk visual artist from Labrador. As a professional photographer, she creates powerful images that convey the cultural landscape and lived experience of Inuit. Her stirring photography has received national acclaim, been featured in exhibits and magazines across Canada and won awards.
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Summer 2021
OPPOSITE TOP
Jennie Williams (b. 1981 Nain) — Untitled 2021 Digital photograph ALL COURTESY THE ARTIST
OPPOSITE BOTTOM
Untitled 2021 Digital photograph THIS PAGE
Untitled 2021 Digital photograph
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Intermural
Translated by Elizabeth Qulaut
For over eight decades, Kingngamiut artists have created a distinct practice of depicting their homes, dwellings and studios. While the spaces themselves have shifted, the impulse to document remains.
— by Pat Feheley
— ᐹᑦ ᕕᕼᐃᓕᐅᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᖓ ᐃᓕᓴᐱ ᖁᓚᐅᑉ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑑᓕᖅᑎᑕᖓ
ᐅᑭᐅᑦ 80 ᐅᖓᑖᓂᑦ, ᑭᙵᕐᒥᐅᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᖏᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖃᖅᑕᖅᓯᒪᓕᖅᐳᑦ ᐃᒡᓗᒥᓂᒃ, ᑐᐱᕐᒥᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᕝᕕᖕᒥᓂᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᖏᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᓯᒪᓕᕋᓗᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᓱᖁᓯᙱᑦᑐᑦ.
PREVIOUS SPREAD
Shuvinai Ashoona (b. 1961 Kinngait) — Studio Monsters 2021 Pencil, coloured pencil and ink 127.8 × 137.5 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
LEFT
Peter Pitseolak (1902–1973 Kinngait) — Aggeok playing the accordion c. 1940–45 Photograph COURTESY CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY, 2000-1438
OPPOSITE
Kananginak Pootoogook (1935–2010 Kinngait) — An Intimate Memory 2001 Printmaker Pitseolak Niviaqsi Lithograph 57.3 × 76.4 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
In 2003 a solo exhibition at Feheley Fine Arts vaulted Annie Pootoogook (1969–2016) into the contemporary art world. The simple, direct statements found in Pootoogook’s coloured pencil drawings focused primarily on everyday life in the modern hamlet of Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. It was not only her drawing style, tight and focused, or her innate sense of colour, but also the subject matter that appealed to viewers as arresting and refreshing. She often focused on domestic interiors, portraying the everyday details common to many Kingngamiut, such as clocks, graduation pictures, key holders, furniture and labels on bottles. Many, particularly new admirers of Pootoogook’s work, heralded these depictions of Kingngamiut going about their lives as a startling new development in contemporary Inuit art. However, Pootogook was in fact following an already existing Kinngait tradition of
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depicting interior spaces. From the early photographs of Peter Pitseolak (1902–1973) to the graphic images resulting from the introduction of drawing and printmaking, Kinngait artists have chosen as subject matter the spaces common in their lives, ranging from domestic scenes to any other gathering place. This can be seen as a distinct tradition in this community long before any external influence would inform their imagery.
Documentation and Memory Art Peter Pitseolak began taking photographs in the early 1940s, showing family and friends in interior settings. He often featured traditional dress, as in this portrait, Aggeok Playing the Accordion (c. 1940–45), in which he positioned his wife in the interior of his modern home, complete with a clock and an accordion. While Pitseolak
Summer 2021
ᑭᖑᓂᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ
2003−ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᕕᕼᐃᓕᑉ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖃᕐᕕᐊᓂ ᐋᓐᓂ ᐳᑐᒍᖅ (1969–2016) ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᔪᖅ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖃᖅᑕᕐᓂᖓᓂᒃ. ᐊᔪᕐᓇᖏᑦᑐᑯᓘᖅᑰᔨᓪᓗᑎᒃ, ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐳᑐᒎᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖃᑦᑕᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᖅᓴᖃᖅᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᖃᐅᑕᒫᓪᓗ ᒫᓐᓇᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᔭᐅᓕᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑭᙵᐃᑦ ᕼᐊᒻᒪᓚᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᕐᓂᕆᕙᒃᑕᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᓚᐅᖏᑦᑐᖅ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᓂᖅᓴᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᖃᐅᑕᒫᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᔭᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᓯᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᐅᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒡᓗ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑖᓐᓇ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᐅᑐᖕᓂᖅᓴᐅᓚᐅᕐᒪᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᖃᐅᑕᒫᓪᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑭᙵᕐᒥᐅᓄᑦ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᐅᑏᑦ (ᓯᕿᙳᔭᖅ) ᐃᓕᓐᓂᐊᖅᑕᒥᓂᒡᓗ ᐃᓱᓕᑦᑎᔪᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ, ᑮᒧᑦ ᐃᓂᒋᔭᐅᓲᑦ, ᐃᒃᓯᕙᐅᑕᑦ, ᓵᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓕᒍᕐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ. ᐊᒥᓱᑦ, ᐱᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᑕᑯᔭᕆᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᐳᑐᒎᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅᓴᐅᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᑭᙵᕐᒥᐅᑦ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᑎᒡᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ, ᐳᑐᒍᖅ ᒪᓕᑐᐃᓐᓇᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐱᑕᖄᓂᓕᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑭᙵᕐᓂᑦ. ᑕᐃᒃᑯᓇᖓᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᐲᑕ ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᑉ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖃᑕᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ (1902–1973) ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓄᖓᓗ ᐅᔭᖅᑲᒧᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᕐᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒥᓱᙳᖅᐸᓪᓕᐅᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒡᓗ, ᑭᙵᕐᒥᐅᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᐅᔪᑦ ᓂᕈᐊᖅᓯᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᐊᑐᖅᐸᒃᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᓅᓯᕐᒥᓄᑦ ᐊᒃᑐᐊᔪᓂᒃ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᓚᒌᖕᓂᖅ ᐊᓯᖏᓐᓂᒡᓗ ᐊᒥᓲᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑲᑎᕝᕕᒋᕙᒃᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᐳᖅ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓄᓇᓕᖕᓂᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᙶᓗᖕᓂᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᒥᒃ ᓱᓕ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ ᑎᑭᓚᐅᖅᑎᓐᓇᖏᑦ. ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᖏᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐲᑕ ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᕙᓪᓕᐊᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ 1940 ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓵᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐃᓚᒌᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐱᖃᓐᓇᕆᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᒥᓃᖦᖢᑎᒃ. ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᕆᕗᖅ ᐊᓐᓄᕌᑐᖃᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ (1945), ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᖓᓂ ᓄᓕᐊᓂ ᐃᖏᑎᖢᓂᐅᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᒡᓗᖓᓂ, Interiors
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ᓲᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓲᓇ (ᐃᓅᕝᕕᐊ 1961 ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) — ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᑲᑉᐱᐊᓇᖅᑐᑦ 2021 ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑎᒥᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᓂ, ᑕᖅᓴᓕᖕᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑎᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᒪᓕᖕᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᓂ 127.8 × 137.5 ᓴᓐᑕᒦᑕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑭᙵᓂᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᖏᕈᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᕕᕼᐃᓕᐅᑉ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ © ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎ
ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ
ᐲᑕ ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ (1902–1973 ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) — ᐊᒋᐅᒃ ᐃᖏᖅᑎᑦᑎᔪᖅ c. 1940–45 ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᖏᕈᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑲᓇᑕᒥ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᐊᓂᑦ, 2000-1438
ᖁᓛᓃᑦᑐᖅ
ᑲᓈᖏᓐᓇᖅ ᐳᑐᒍᖅ (1935–2010 ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) — ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᓂᒻᒪᕆᒃ 2001 ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒥᓱᖑᖅᑎᑦᑎᓲᖅ ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ ᓂᕕᐊᖅᓯ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᓯᖅ 57.3 × 76.4 ᓴᓐᑕᒦᑕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑭᙵᓂᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ © ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎ
An Insider’s View
captured contemporary interiors, many of the Elders, as they picked up paper and pencil in the later 1950s, depicted an earlier time, before the social and economic changes of the second half of the twentieth century. Pitseolak Ashoona (1904–1983), born in the first decade of that century, lived on the land until the early 1960s. Our Camp (1974) shows a family sleeping inside a skin tent that is placed in the context of summer on the land with a hunter, animals and birds. Similarly, An Intimate Memory (2001) by Kananginak Pootoogook, RCA (1935–2010), offers the tender scene of a man and wife safely tucked in their warm and well-lit iglu in the Arctic night. The almost encyclopedic nature of these images convey not just detail but, importantly, fond memories of an earlier time. ABOVE
Qavavau Manumie (b. 1958 Kinngait) — Hudson’s Bay Store 2006–07 Pencil crayon and ink 50.9 × 66.6 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
OPPOSITE
Mary Pudlat (1923–2001 Kinngait) — In the Art Studio 1987–88 Coloured pencil and ink 50.9 × 66.6 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
Inuit Art Quarterly
Beyond Domestic - Trading Posts and Transition to the Studio The increasingly active fur trade ushered in a new phase of change. In 1939 the Baffin Trading Company (BTC) opened, joining the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) as a trading post in Kinngait. Peter Pitseolak recalled this as a prosperous time when the people could trade for goods from the South, saying, “While the BTC was here we were well off from the land. They were trading in sealskins and polar bear and walrus hides. The Bay used to take only fox pelts.”1 People would travel from their camps and return with staple items like flour, biscuits, coffee, tea, sugar, rifles and ammunition. Towards the end of his life, Ohotaq Mikkigak (1936–2014) told me that those remaining in camp anxiously awaited their return; he recalled that they knew the sleds were coming close because they could smell “Qablunait.”2 The 1977 drawing Trading Pelts depicts Napachie Pootoogook’s (1938–2002) memory of going to the post with her family. She drew the interior of the trading post in detail, with the trader in his cap flanked by shelves of the supplies that became more common in everyday life. As the fur trade waned, arts and crafts experimentation resulted in a new economic opportunity through the newly established co-operative. The fledgling Kinngait Studios started in a modest wood building where sculptures and drawings were purchased while
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ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ
ᖃᕙᕙᐅᖅ ᒪᓄᒥ (ᐃᓅᓕᕐᕕᐊ 1958 ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) — ᕼᐊᒃᓴᓐ ᐸᐃ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᒃ 2006–07 ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑎᒧᑦ ᑕᖅᓴᓕᖕᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᒪᓕᖕᒧᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᖅ 50.9 × 66.6 ᓴᓐᑕᒦᑕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑭᙵᓂᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᖏᕈᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᕕᕼᐃᓕᐅᑉ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ © ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆ
ᑕᓕᖅᐱᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ
ᒥᐊᓕ ᐳᓪᓚᑦ (1923–2001 ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) — ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᖕᒥᑦ 1987–88 ᑕᖅᓴᓕᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᒪᓕᖕᒥᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ 50.9 × 66.6 ᓴᓐᑕᒦᑕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑭᙵᓂᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᒋᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᕕᕼᐃᓕ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ © ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎ
ᖃᐅᔨᓴᐅᑎᓗ (ᓯᕿᖑᔭᖅ) ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᖏᕐᕈᑎ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᖃᑦᑕᕋᓗᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᖃᓄᐃᑦᑐᑐᐃᓐᓇᕐᓂᒃ, ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᕆᕗᖅ ᐊᒥᓱᓂᒃ ᐃᓐᓇᕐᓂᒃ, ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐸᐃᑉᐹᑎᒍᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑎᑎᒍᓪᓗ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᐃᔅᓱᒪᓂ 1950 ᐱᐊᓂᖕᓂᐊᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᓂ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᕐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᐅᔪᓂᒃ, ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᔪᖅ ᐃᓅᔾᔪᑕᐅᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔾᔪᑕᐅᓕᖅᑐᓪᓗ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᕈᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑎᓐᓇᒋᑦ. ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ ᐊᓲᓇ (1904–1983), ᐃᓅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑕᐃᔅᓱᒪᓂᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᓄᓇᓕᕌᓛᕐᒥᐅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑭᓯᐊᓂ 1960 ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓵᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑭᙵᓄᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ. ᐊᐅᓪᓛᕐᕕᕗᑦ (1974) ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᐃᓚᒌᓂᒃ ᓯᓂᒃᑐᓂᒃ ᕿᓯᖕᒥᒃ ᓴᓇᓯᒪᔪᒥᒃ ᑐᐱᕐᒦᖦᖢᑎᒃ ᑖᓐᓇ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᐊᐅᔭᒃᑯᑦ ᐊᖑᓇᓱᒃᑎᒥᒃ, ᓂᕐᔪᑎᓂᒡᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᖕᒥᐊᓂᒃ. ᐊᔾᔨᑲᓴᖓᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐅᓇ, ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᔭᒃᓴᖅ (2001) ᐆᒪ ᓴᓇᔭᖓ ᑲᓈᖏᓐᓇᖅ ᐳᑐᒎᑉ, RCA (1935–2010), ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᒋᕗᖅ ᐊᖑᒻᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᓄᓕᐊᖓᓂᒃ ᐃᓐᓇᖓᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐅᖅᑰᔪᒥ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᑯᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᒥᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᒥᑦ ᐅᓐᓄᐊᒃᑯᑦ. ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᑐᐃᓐᓇᖃᑦᑕᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ, ᐱᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᔾᔪᑎᒋᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᐃᔅᓱᒪᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᖃᑦᑕᖅᐳᑦ. ᐃᓚᒌᓐᓂᐅᑉ ᐅᖓᑖᓂᑦ: ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᒃᑖᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐅᓄᖅᓯᕙᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐊᒥᕐᓂᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᖃᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓄᑖᒥᑦ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᔪᒧᑦ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᕈᑕᐅᒻᒪᕆᓕᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ. 1939−ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᖕᒥᑦᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᒃ (BTC) ᒪᑐᐃᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᖅ, ᐃᓚᒋᔭᐅᓕᖅᖢᓂᓗ ᕼᐊᑦᓴᓐ ᐸᐃ (HBC) ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᐅᓕᖅᖢᓂ ᑭᙵᕐᓂ ᐲᑕ ᐱᑦᓯᐊᓛᖅ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᒪᓐᓇ, ᑕᐃᔅᓱᒪᓂ ᒪᑭᑕᑦᑎᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᒍᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᓪᓗ ᑕᐅᖅᓰᔾᔪᑎᖃᕈᓐᓇᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ ᓄᓇᖓᓐᓂᙶᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᓂᒃ, ᐅᖃᖅᖢᓂ,
Interiors
“ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᖕᒥ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᑦ (BTC) ᑕᒫᓃᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᒪᑭᑕᑦᑎᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᒍᑦ ᓄᓇᒥᐅᑕᕐᓂᒃ ᓂᕐᔪᑎᓂᒃ ᓂᐅᕐᕈᑎᖃᕈᓐᓇᖅᖢᑕ. ᑕᐅᖅᓰᔪᓐᓇᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᒍᑦ ᓇᑦᑏᑦ ᕿᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᓇᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᒥᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᐃᕕᑦ ᐊᒥᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊᓕ ᕼᐊᑦᓴᓐ ᐸᐃᒃᑯᑦ (HBC) ᐱᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅᐸᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑎᕆᒐᓂᐊᑉ ᐊᒥᖏᓐᓂᒃ.”1 ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᖏᕐᕋᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᕗᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᕋᓛᕐᒥᓂᙶᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᑎᖅᐸᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒥᓂᒃ ᐅᓯᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᒪᐃᑦᑐᓂᒃ, ᐸᓚᐅᒑᑦ, ᓯᕙᑦ, ᑳᐲᑦ, ᑏ, ᓱᑲᐃᑦ, ᖁᑭᐅᑎᑦ ᓱᓇᒐᓂᒡᓗ. ᑐᖁᓵᓕᓂᐊᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᐅᓲᑕᖅ ᒥᑭᒐᖅ (1936–2014) ᐅᕙᓐᓄᑦ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᒪᓐᓇ, ᑕᐃᒃᑯᐊ ᓄᓇᓕᕋᓛᒥᓃᑦᑐᑦ ᐅᑕᖅᑭᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓂᕆᐅᒃᖢᑎᒃ; ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᐅᖃᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᒪᓐᓇ, ᖃᐅᔨᒪᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᒡᒋᓕᕌᖓᑕ ᕿᒧᒃᓰᑦ ᖃᒡᓕᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᓲᖃᐃᒻᒪ ᓇᐃᒪᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᖕᒪᑕ “ᖃᓪᓗᓈᑦ”2 ᑎᐱᖏᓐᓂᒃ”. 1977−ᒥ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑕᐅᖅᓰᔪᑦ ᐊᒥᕐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᐅᔪᖅ ᓇᐸᑦᓯ ᐳᑐᒎᑉ (1938–2002) ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᖕᒧᙵᐅᖃᑎᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᐃᓚᒥᓂᒃ. ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᐅᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ ᑭᓱᓕᒫᑦ ᐃᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᖢᓂᒋᑦ, ᑖᓐᓇᓗ ᓂᐅᕕᖅᑎᐅᔪᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᖢᓂᐅᒃ ᓇᓴᖅᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊᓗ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᒋᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᖁᓕᕈᐊᑦ ᐃᓂᒋᔭᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᓂᒃ. ᐊᒥᕐᓂᒃ ᑕᐅᖅᓰᖃᑦᑕᕈᓐᓃᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑭᓱᑐᐃᓐᓇᕐᓂᒃ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ, ᒥᖅᓱᒐᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᑦ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᒐᐃᑦ ᐱᔭᐅᕙᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᓕᐅᕈᑎᖃᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᑎᒎᓇᖅ ᓄᑖᑦ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᑦ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᑯᐊᐸᒃᑯᑦ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓵᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑭᙵᕐᒥᐅᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᖓᑦ ᐱᒋᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᕿᔪᖕᒥᑦ ᓴᓇᓯᒪᔪᒥᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᒥ ᑕᕝᕙᓂᓗ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᓂᐅᕕᖅᑕᐅᕙᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᕙᓕᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐅᓄᖅᓯᑎᑦᑎᕙᓪᓕᐊᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ. ᒥᐊᓕ ᐳᑦᓚᑦ (1923–2001) ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᕐᓂᕐᒥᑎᒍᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᑕᒪᑐᒥᖓ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᐅᓕᖅᑐᒥᒃ, ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᔭᐅᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᒃ (1987–88). ᐃᓄᒃᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖓᓂᒃ, ᐃᒪᐃᓕᖓᓪᓗᓂ: “ᑎᕆᒐᓂᐊᑦ ᐊᒥᖏᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓇᑦᑏᑦ
53
An Insider’s View
artists experimented with printmaking. Mary Pudlat (1923– 2001) recalled this transition in her drawing, In the Art Studio (1987–88). The syllabic inscription on the drawing clearly reflects its image, explaining: “Fox pelts and sealskin were our only source of income, but they no longer have value. Now making drawings and sculpture are our source of income.” Up until the early 1960s, most artists still lived on the land and came into Kinngnait sporadically. Whoever was interested would return to camp with drawing materials supplied by the co-op, as illustrated in another of Pudlat’s works, Sewing and Drawing in the Igloo (1989–90). The ability to make and sell drawings afforded women a source of income to support their families for the first time. The HBC also bought sculptures, depicted in detail in Qavavau Manumie’s Hudson’s Bay Store (2006–07), which shows an artist selling his sculptures in the 1970s to the manager in his trademark cap, surrounded by goods displaying price tags. The work is even more detailed than it first appears; in a recent interview, Manumie identified the artists of several of the works: Mask by Taqialuq Nuna, Dancing Bear by Pauta Saila, RCA (1916–2009) and Man Lifting Woman by Kiugaq Ashoona, OC, RCA (1933–2014).3
many artists who came either to draw onsite or to sell their work. Naturally, the interior of the iconic studios became a frequent subject matter for many of the artists. The Stonecut Studio (2003–04) by Shuvinai Ashoona, RCA, presents a bird’s eye view of the activities of the stonecut studio in delightful detail. Near the front door, master printer Qavavau Manumie prepares to transfer ink from block to paper with the back of the same spoon he has used for years. Completed prints are hanging to dry, proofs are on the walls and artists are bringing in their rolled drawings to sell. On the table in the middle, drawings under consideration are identifiable by their style—drawings by Annie Pootoogook, Kenojuak Ashevak, CC, OC, RCA (1927–2013), and Ashoona herself. Kananginak Pootoogook, an artist who was among the first to join the experimental stage of printing, was himself not involved in the creation of lithographs. His 2009 work, Lithography Press, is devoid of people and focuses on this complex printmaking technology which, to a veteran printmaker in stonecut and stencil like Pootoogook, was entirely new. Again, viewed from above, the black press dominates the image, while the details of the rollers, ink and sponges are clearly rendered.
The Kinngait Studios The West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative was incorporated in 1959. In 1960, after hiring Terry Ryan, CM, the far-sighted all Inuit Board of Directors set out to make the co-op financially independent, which they accomplished over the next five years. As the co-op grew into a self-sufficient, diversified enterprise, it provided the necessary stability for the art studio to grow. By 1976 a separate new studio housed lithography presses, while a series of additions to the original building resulted in a separate stonecut printing studio and an area designated for purchasing sculpture. Gradually it became a hub, not only for the printers and stonecutters but for the
Contemporary Life in Kinngait Recalling the tradition of earlier artists like Peter Pitseolak, graphic artists also depicted their homes. Shuvinai Ashoona’s drawing, Interior (1995–96), shows the details of contemporary houses from an aerial perspective. Drawn in her early style of small-scale pen and ink, this work captures ‘real time’ details in new houses, such as the window, the ubiquitous clock on the wall and women engaged in traditional work with skins. Mark Pitseolak, however, broke with convention with his sculpture Domestic Scene, in which he chose individual elements found in a contemporary house and carved them
LEFT
Shuvinai Ashoona (b. 1961 Kinngait) — The Stonecut Studio 2003–04 Pencil crayon and ink 50.9 × 66.6 cm
REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
OPPOSITE
Mark Iola Pitsiulak (b. 1954 Kinngait) — Domestic Scene n.d. Stone Variable dimensions REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COLLECTION OF SAM & ESTHER SARICK COURTESY ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO © THE ARTIST
Inuit Art Quarterly
54
Summer 2021
ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ
ᓲᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓲᓇ (ᐃᓅᓕᕐᕕᐊ 1961 ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) — ᐅᔭᖅᑲᒧᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᒃ 2003–04 ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑎᒧᑦ ᑕᖅᓴᓕᖕᒧᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᒪᓕᖕᒧᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ 50.9 × 66.6 ᓴᓐᑕᒦᑕ
ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑭᙵᓂ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᕕᕼᐃᓕ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ © ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎ
ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ
ᒪᒃ ᐊᐃᐅᓚ ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ (ᐃᓅᓕᕐᕕᐊ 1954 ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) — ᐃᓚᒌᑦ n.d. ᐅᔭᖅᑲᒥᑦ ᓴᓇᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᖅᑕᖅᖢᓂ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᖅ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᖢᓂ ᐊᖏᕈᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑭᙵᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐱᖁᑎᒋᔭᐅᔪᖅ ᓵᒻ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᔅᑕ ᓴᕆᒃᑯᓐᓄᑦ ᐊᖏᕈᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᐊᓐᑎᐊᕆᔭᒃᑯᓐᓂ © ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎ
ᕿᓯᖏᑦ ᓂᐅᕐᕈᑎᑐᐊᕆᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔭᕗᑦ ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᔪᖅ ᐊᑭᖃᕈᓐᓃᖅᑐᑦ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᕐᓂᒃᑯᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᕐᓂᒃᑯᓪᓗ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᖅᑖᕈᓐᓇᖅᓯᕗᖑᑦ”. 1960 ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓵᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᑕᐃᒃᑯᐊ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᐅᔪᑦ ᓄᓇᓕᕋᓛᕐᒥᐅᑕᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᖃᑯᑎᒃᑯᑦ ᑭᙵᓄᐊᖅᐸᒃᖢᑎᒃ. ᑭᓇᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᐱᔪᒪᔪᖅ ᑭᙵᓄᑦ ᐅᑎᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᓇᒃᓴᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐸᐃᑉᐹᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᕕᒃᓴᐃᑦ ᑯᐊᐸᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ ᐱᑎᑕᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᑎᑐᑦ ᐳᑦᓚᒧᑦ, ᒥᖅᓱᙳᐊᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ (1989–90). ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᐸᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᕐᓇᐃᑦ ᐃᓚᒥᓂᒃ ᐃᑲᔪᕈᓐᓇᖅᓯᓚᐅᖅᑐᑦ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐹᑦᑎᐊᒥ. ᕼᐊᑦᓴᓐᐸᐃᒃᑯᑦ ᓂᐅᕕᖃᑦᑕᓕᓚᐅᕐᒥᔪᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᑕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑖᔅᓱᑐᓇᖅ ᖃᕙᕙᐅᖅ ᒪᓄᒥᐅᑉ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔭᖓᑎᑐᑦ ᕼᐊᑦᓴᓐᐸᐃ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᒃ (2006–07) ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᑎ ᓂᐅᕐᕈᑎᖃᖅᑐᖅ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ 1970 ᐊᑐᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓂᐅᕕᖅᑎᒧᑦ ᓇᓴᖅᓯᒪᓪᓗᓂᓗ ᑖᓐᓇ ᓂᐅᕕᖅᑎ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᓂᐅᕕᐊᒃᓴᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐊᑭᖏᓪᓗ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᒋᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ ᑭᓱᓕᒫᓂᒃ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᖅᓯᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ ᑭᒃᑰᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᑏᑦ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᓂᒃ: ᑮᓇᑉᐸᐃᑦ ᑕᖅᑭᐊᓗᒃ ᓄᓇᐅᑉ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᑕᖓ, ᓇᓄᖅ ᒧᒥᙳᐊᖅᑐᖅ ᐸᐅᑕ ᓴᐃᓚᐅᑉ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᑕᖓ, RCA (1916– 2009) ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᖑᑦ ᑭᕕᒃᓯᔪᖅ ᐊᕐᓇᕐᒥᒃ ᑭᐅᒐᖅ ᐊᓲᓇᐅᑉ ᓴᓇᖑᐊᖅᑕᙳ, OC, RCA (1933–2014).3
ᑭᙵᕐᓂ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᒃ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᑯᐊᐸᒃᑯᑦ (WBEC) ᓴᖅᑭᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ 1959−ᒥ. 1960−ᒥ ᐃᖅᑲᓇᐃᔭᖅᑎᑖᓚᐅᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑎᐅᕆ ᕋᐃᔭᓐᒥᒃ, ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᑲᑎᒪᔨᑖᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᔨᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓯᓇᓱᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑯᐊᐸᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᓄᖕᓂᒃ ᑮᓇᐅᔭᑎᒍᑦ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᖅᓯᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᐅᑭᐅᑦ ᑕᓪᓕᒪᑦ ᐊᓂᒍᖅᓯᒪᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᐃᒻᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᖅᓯᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑯᐊᐸᒃᑯᑦ ᐃᒻᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᔪᓐᓇᖅᓯᖕᒪᑕ, ᑕᐃᒪᓕ
Interiors
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ᐱᔪᓐᓇᖅᓯᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᕕᒃ ᐱᕈᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᑎᓪᓗᒍ. 1976−ᒥ ᐊᓯᐊᒍᖔᖅ ᓄᑖᕐᒥᒃ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᒃᑖᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐅᔭᖅᑲᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒥᓱᙳᖅᑎᑦᑎᕕᐅᓪᓗᓂ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓚᔭᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᖢᓂ ᑖᓐᓇ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᒃ ᐅᔭᖅᑲᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒥᓱᙳᖅᑎᑦᑎᔾᔪᑎᓂᒃ ᐃᓂᒋᔭᐅᓕᖅᖢᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᕕᑯᓗᖃᓕᖅᖢᓂ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒥᓱᙳᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᒐᕐᓂᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᐅᑭᐅᑦ ᐊᓂᒍᖅᐸᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᑐᑦᑕᕐᕕᒋᔭᐅᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ, ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓄᖓᑐᐊᖑᖏᑦᑐᖅ, ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᔭᖅᑲᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᒥᓱᙳᖅᑎᑦᑎᔨᓄᑦ ᐱᒋᔭᐅᔪᐃᓐᓇᓚᐅᖏᑦᑐᖅ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐊᒥᓱᓄᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᕆᐊᖅᑐᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᓂᐅᕐᕈᑎᖃᕆᐊᖅᑐᖅᑐᓄᑦ ᓴᓇᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᒋᔭᐅᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᒃ ᐊᒥᓱᓄᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᐱᒋᔭᐅᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ. ᐅᔭᖅᑲᒧᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒥᓱᙳᕈᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᖅ (2003–04) ᓴᓇᔭᐅᔪᕕᓂᖅ ᑖᔅᓱᒧᖓ ᓲᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓲᓇᒧᑦ, RCA, ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᑎᖕᒥᐊᑉ ᐃᔨᙳᐊᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᐅᑐᒃᖢᓂ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᐅᔭᖅᑲᒥᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᒥᓱᙳᕈᑎᓂᒃ. ᐹᑉ ᖃᓂᒋᔮᓂ, ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᐅᔪᖅ ᖃᕙᕙᐅᖅ ᒪᓄᒥ ᓴᓇᕙᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᖅᓴᓂᒃ ᐋᖅᑭᓱᐃᕙᓪᓕᐊᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐸᐃᑉᐹᒧᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᕕᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐊᓘᑎᐅᑉ ᑐᓄᐊᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᓂ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᐅᑭᐅᓂᒃ ᐊᒥᓱᓂᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖃᖅᐸᒃᓯᒪᓂᑰᔪᖅ. ᐱᐊᓂᒃᑕᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᒐᐃᑦ ᓂᕕᖓᔪᑦ ᐸᓂᖅᓯᖅᖢᑎᒃ, ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᐊᕙᑎᒦᖦᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᐅᔪᑦ ᖃᐃᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᓂᐅᕐᕈᑎᖃᕆᐊᖅᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ. ᑭᐳᒦᑦᑐᑦ ᕿᑎᐊᓂ, ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᕕᓃᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᖢᑎᒡᓗ ᑭᓇᒧᑦ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᔪᕕᓂᐅᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ − ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᕕᓃᑦ ᐋᓂ ᐳᑐᒍᕐᒧᑦ, ᕿᓐᓄᐊᔪᐊᖅ ᐋᓯᕙᒃᒧᑦ, CC, OC, RCA (1927–2013), ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᓲᓇᐅᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖏᑦ. ᑲᓈᖏᓐᓇᖅ ᐳᑐᒍᖅ, ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᒻᒪᕆᐅᔪᖅ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅᐸᐅᖃᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓚᐅᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᐅᔪᓂᒃ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᕕᓂᖓ 2009−ᒥ, ᐅᔭᖅᑲᒥᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓄᑦ
An Insider’s View
many of her drawings show her as a child, in her father’s camp or visiting her grandmother, Pitseolak Ashoona.
from stone. A woman cooks in a modern kitchen at the back of the scene, while a man sits in his armchair with a child in front of the coffee table and television. On the side, two children play with a dog. This established tradition did not ignore more challenging subject matter within a domestic setting. Napachie Pootoogook was another artist who depicted domestic life, and in the latter part of her life, began a startling new series of monochrome drawings illustrating local stories and legends. But through these drawings she also showed the less than idyllic part of traditional life. These included mythical stories of cruelty and the unfortunate realities of past life, such as domestic abuse. Man Beating Wife (1997–98) shows a father abusing his wife in front of his sons while his daughter attempts to intervene. It may be her mother’s brave revelation of more personal moments that prompted Annie Pootoogook to tackle the same tough subject matter. Memory of my life: Being Hit (2002) depicts a particularly shocking, self-explanatory scene of domestic violence. Especially striking, the interior is detailed in the same way as many of her typical domestic interiors, yet here it becomes a setting for violence. In both Napachie and Annie Pootoogook’s drawings, it is apparent that these scenes are not imagined but are in fact autobiographical. Annie Pootoogook did take detail to a higher level with, for instance, her well-known drawing of the new freezer in the co-op store, Cape Dorset Freezer (2005), in which every frozen product is meticulously drawn. In a drawing of a whale tail party by Pootoogook, the calendar on the wall shows that it is October, the month that beluga whales are numerous in the Kinngait area. Still, today, when a whale is hunted, the tail is kept for a gathering of women to butcher, eat and take leftovers home—October is the month for frequent whale tail parties. Artists like Pootoogook created their own memory art;
Inuit Art Quarterly
Stage Set While realism was a driving force in many earlier works, in recent years interior settings have become a contextual device. Itee Pootoogook’s Kitchen Window (2010) does show some details of his kitchen, with the sink, teapot and soap visible, but it is the glowing landscape outside that is the real subject. Here Pootoogook creates a study of light and shadow, all rendered in the beautiful, soft, atmospheric drawing that typified his work. The dark details of the interior scene function simply as a frame for the luminous landscape. Even artists who previously documented interiors are stretching the tradition. Studio Monsters (2021) by Shuvinai Ashoona shows a drawing of the new studio, the Kenojuak Cultural Centre (KCC), held by two hands, partially human and partially composed of worlds holding a drawing that is depicting a bird’s-eye view of the new studio. This interior scene, however, provides the set for a cast of fantastic characters from the artist’s imagination; an elephant/ walrus transformation sweeps the floor and a whale, a bear and various birds bring their drawings to sell, while fantastic, metamorphic creatures work on computers and even multi-task. When contrasted with the artist’s earlier studio drawing, one can see the progression of her artistic expression. Both are seen from an aerial view, but real-life depictions have given way to a panoply of fantastic beings. Emerging artist Padloo Samayualie approaches many of her drawings in a similar manner. Several afternoons a week, artists who work at home bring their drawings to the studios to sell. In Looking For the Buyer (2018), Samayualie depicts her aunt, artist
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Summer 2021
LEFT
Itee Pootoogook (1951–2014 Kinngait) — Kitchen Window 2010 Pencil crayon and pencil 55.8 × 76.2 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
ᓴᐅᒥᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ
ᐊᐃᑏ ᐳᑐᒍᖅ (1951–2014 ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) — ᐃᒐᕝᕕᖕᒥ ᐃᒐᓛᖅ 2010 ᑕᖅᓴᓕᖕᒥᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑎᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᒪᓕᖕᒥᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ 55.8 × 76.2 ᓴᓐᑕᒦᑕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑭᙵᓂᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᕕᕼᐃᓕ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ © ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎ
ᐊᒃᑑᐸᐅᓕᕌᖓᑦ ᑕᖅᑭᖅ ᕿᓚᓗᒐᐃᑦ ᐅᓄᖅᓯᒻᒪᕆᓲᖑᖕᒪᑕ ᑭᙵᐃᑦ ᖃᓂᒋᔮᓂ. ᐅᓪᓗᒥ ᓱᓕ, ᕿᓚᓗᒐᖅᑐᖃᕌᖓᑦ, ᓴᖅᐱᖏᑦ ᐱᓯᒪᔭᐅᓲᑦ ᐊᕐᓇᐃᑦ ᑲᑎᓐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᑖᔅᓱᒥᖓᓗ ᐱᓕᕆᓗᑎᒃ, ᓂᕆᓗᑎᒡᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒥᐊᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᐅᔨᓗᑎᒃ−ᐊᒃᑑᐸ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᔭᐅᓲᖑᕗᖅ ᕿᓚᓗᒐᐃᑦ ᓴᖅᐱᖏᑦ ᑲᑎᔾᔪᑕᐅᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ ᐊᕐᓇᓄᑦ. ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᐅᔪᑦ ᑖᔅᓱᑐᓇᖅ ᐳᑐᒍᖅᑎᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ; ᐊᒥᓱᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᕕᓂᖏᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᑦ ᓄᑕᕋᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᐊᑖᑕᖓᑕ ᓄᓇᓕᕋᓛᖃᕐᕕᐊᓂ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐳᓛᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᐊᓈᓇᑦᑎᐊᒥᓂᒃ, ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ ᐊᓲᓇᒥᒃ.
ᐊᒥᓱᙳᕈᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ, ᐃᓄᖕᓄᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᖏᑦᑐᖅ ᖃᓄᖅ ᓴᓇᓯᒪᒐᓗᐊᕐᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇᓗ ᓄᑖᖑᓪᓗᓂ ᓴᓇᓯᒪᓂᖓ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᖁᓛᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᓪᓗᒍ, ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᕿᕐᓂᖅᑐᖅ ᑕᖅᓴᖅ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖅ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖓ ᐅᔭᖅᑲᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᒥᖑᐊᕈᑎᖓ, ᑕᖅᓴᖏᓪᓗ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑦᑎᐊᕆᓪᓗᑎᒃ.
ᒫᓐᓇᐅᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᑭᙵᕐᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᓪᓗᒋᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐲᑕ ᐱᑦᓯᐊᓛᖅ, ᐊᔾᔨᓕᐅᕆᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᒡᓗᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᒥᓂᒃ. ᓲᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓲᓇᐅᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖏᑦ, ᐃᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᖅ (1995–96), ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ. ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᕐᙵᐅᑎᒋᕙᓚᐅᖅᑕᖏᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑎᒥᒃ ᐃᒪᓕᖕᒥᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᓂ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖓ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᒻᒪᕆᒃᐳᖅ “ᐱᓪᓚᑦᑖᖅ” ᓄᑖᑦ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓃᑦᑐᑦ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᒐᓛᑦ, ᖃᐅᔨᓴᐅᑦ ᐊᑭᙵᒦᑦᑐᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᕐᓇᐃᒃ ᑕᐃᔅᓱᒪᓂᑐᑦ ᐊᒥᓕᕆᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᑖᓐᓇᓕ ᒫᒃ ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ, ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖃᑦᑕᖅᐳᖅ ᐃᒡᓗᒥᐅᖃᑎᒌᑦ, ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᐸᒃᖢᓂ ᐅᒃᑯᓯᒃᓴᓕᖕᒥᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᖢᓂ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓃᙳᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ. ᐊᕐᓇᖅ ᐃᒐᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᒐᒦᖦᖢᓂ ᑖᔅᓱᒪ ᐊᖑᑎᐅᑉ ᑐᓄᐊᓃᖦᖢᓂ, ᑖᓐᓇᓗ ᐊᖑᑦ ᐃᒃᓯᕚᖅᖢᓂ ᐃᒃᓯᕙᐅᑕᕐᒦᖦᖢᓂ ᓄᑕᕋᕐᓗ ᓵᑉ ᓵᖓᓃᖦᖢᓂ ᑕᓚᕕᓴᐅᓪᓗ. ᖃᓂᒋᔮᓂ, ᒪᕐᕉᒃ ᓄᑕᕋᒃ ᐱᙳᐊᕈᑎᖃᖅᑑᒃ ᕿᒻᒥᕐᒥᒃ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᐱᐅᓯᐅᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᓱᖁᑎᒃᓴᖏᑦᑐᖅ ᐊᔪᕐᓇᕐᓂᖅᓴᓂᒃ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᕐᓂᒃ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᓚᒌᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᓂᒃ. ᓇᐸᑦᓯ ᐳᑐᒍᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᐅᖕᒥᔪᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᐸᒃᖢᓂ ᐃᓚᒌᙳᐊᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᐃᒪ ᑐᖁᓵᓕᓛᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᐸᒃᖢᓂ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᓂᒡᓗ. ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᑖᒃᑯᑎᒎᓇᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᕙᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᑦ ᖃᓄᐃᓕᖓᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᓚᖃᕆᕗᑦ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᑐᐊᓂ ᐱᑦᑎᐊᖅᑕᐅᙱᙳᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓅᓯᕐᒥᒃ ᐱᓂᕐᓗᒃᑕᐅᓂᑯᙳᐊᓂᒃ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᓚᒥᓂᒃ ᐋᓐᓂᖅᓯᕆᙳᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᐃᓖᔭᖃᙳᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ. ᐊᖑᑦ ᐋᓐᓂᖅᓯᕆᔪᑦ ᓄᓕᐊᒥᓂᒃ (1997–98) ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᖢᓂ ᐊᖑᑦ ᓄᓕᐊᕐᒥᓂᒃ ᐱᑦᑎᐊᙱᙳᐊᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᕐᓂᖏᑦᑕ ᓵᖓᓂ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐸᓂᖓ ᓄᖅᑲᖅᑎᑦᑎᓇᓱᙳᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᐊᑖᑕᒥᓂᒃ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑖᓐᓇ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᕕᓂᐊ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᑐᒃᓴᐅᕗᖅ ᐊᓈᓇᒥᓂᒃ ᐋᓐᓂᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᔪᒥ ᒃ. ᐃᓅᓯᓐᓂ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᔭᕋ: ᐋᓐᓂᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᖓ (2002) ᑖᓐᓇ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᐱᓪᓚᖅᑖᕐᒥᒃ ᐃᓅᓯᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓᓂᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓇᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᐊᒃᓱᕈᕐᓇᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐊᑐᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ. ᐱᓗᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓃᙳᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᓂᖃᖅᐳᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇᑎᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᕈᓯᕆᕙᒃᑕᖏᑦᑎᑐᑦ ᐱᓯᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ, ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑖᓐᓇ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᔪᖅ ᐋᓐᓂᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᓂᒃ. ᑖᒃᑯᐊᒃ ᓇᐸᑦᓯᓗ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐋᓂ ᐳᑐᒎᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖏᑦ, ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᒻᒪᕆᒃᐳᑦ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᔭᐅᑐᐃᓐᓇᖏᑦᑐᓂᒃ ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐱᓪᓚᑦᑖᓂᒃ ᐊᑐᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᖅᖢᑎᒃ. ᐋᓂ ᐳᑐᒍᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᖃᓄᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᖃᑦᑕᓕᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᒪᐃᑦᑐᓂᒃ, ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᐅᔾᔪᑎᒋᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ ᓄᑖᖅ ᖁᐊᖅᓰᕕᒃ ᑯᐊᐸᒃᑯᓐᓂᑦ, ᑭᙵᓂ ᖁᐊᖅᓰᕕᒃ (2005), ᑕᕝᕙᓂᓗ ᖁᐊᖅᓰᕕᙳᐊᕐᒥᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᖁᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᒋᐊᓖᑦ. ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖓᓂᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᕿᓚᓗᒐᕐᒥᒃ ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᓖᑦ ᑖᔅᓱᒪ ᐳᑐᒎᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖓᓂ, ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᕆᕗᖅ ᐅᓪᓗᖅᓯᐅᑎᙳᐊᖅ ᐊᕙᑎᒦᑦᑐᖅ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᐊᒃᑑᐸᐅᓂᖓᓂᒃ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᐅᓪᓗᖅᓯᐅᑎ
Interiors
ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖏᑦ ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐱᓚᑦᑖᙳᐊᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᕕᓃᑦ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᐱᒋᐊᕈᑕᐅᕙᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ, ᐅᓪᓗᒥᐅᓕᖅᑐᕐᓕ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᔪᑦ ᐱᓪᓚᑦᑖᖑᙳᐊᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᑐᑦ. ᐊᐃᑏ ᐳᑐᒎᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖓᑎᑐᑦ ᐃᒐᕝᕕᖕᒥ ᐃᒐᓛᖅ (2010) ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᐃᒐᕝᕕᐅᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓃᓲᖑᔪᓂᒃ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐅᐊᓴᕐᕕᒃ, ᑏᓕᐅᕈᑎ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᐊᓴᐅᑏᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓪᓗᑎᒃ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᓯᓚᒥ ᓄᓇ ᐱᓪᓚᑦᑖᖑᔪᖅ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖓᒍᑦ. ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖓᓂ ᐳᑐᒍᖅ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᒻᒪᕆᒃᐳᖅ ᖃᐅᒪᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᓄᓇ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑕᕐᕋᖏᑦ, ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒡᓗ ᑲᑎᓯᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐱᐅᒻᒪᕆᒃᖢᓂᓗ. ᑖᕐᓂᖅᓴᐅᔪᓪᓕ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᑦ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᓄᓇᒥᒃ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᑎᓂᖅᓴᐅᓪᓗᓂ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᐅᔪᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖃᑦᑕᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂ ᐊᓯᖔᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖃᑦᑕᓕᖅᑐᑦ. ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᑲᑉᐱᐊᓇᙳᐊᖅᑐᑦ (2021) ᓲᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓲᓇᐅᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖓ, ᕿᓐᓄᐊᔪᐊᖅ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᓕᕆᕝᕕᐊᓂ (KCC), ᑎᒍᒥᐊᖅᑕᐅᙳᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᒪᕐᕉᖕᓂᒃ ᐊᒡᒐᙳᐊᓂᒃ, ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᓅᑉ ᐊᒡᒐᙳᐊᖓ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓄᓇᕐᔪᐊᕐᒥᒃ ᑎᒍᒥᐊᖅᑕᐅᙳᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᓲᕐᓗ ᑎᖕᒥᐊᑦ ᐃᔨᖏᑦᑎᒍᑦ ᑕᐅᑐᒃᑕᐅᙳᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᑖᓐᓇ ᓄᑖᖅ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᒃ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂᖑᐊᖅᑐᖅ, ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᑖᔅᓱᒪ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᐅᑉ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᔭᖏᓐᓂᒃ; ᐊᓕᕙ/ᐊᐃᕕᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓴᓇᙳᐊᖅᑕᐅᔪᖅ ᓇᑎᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᕿᓚᓗᒐᖅ, ᓇᓄᖅ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐊᒥᓱᑦ ᑎᖕᒥᐊᑦ ᐊᔾᔨᒌᖏᑦᑐᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᕙᒃᑐᑦ ᓂᐅᕈᑕᐅᕙᒃᖢᑎᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐊᓯᖏᑦ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᕆᓴᐅᔭᓕᕆᔪᑦ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᑕᐅᑐᒃᖢᓂ ᑖᔅᓱᒥᖓ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᒥᒃ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᕐᒥ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖃᑦᑕᓕᓵᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑭᓇᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᑕᑯᔪᓐᓇᖅᐳᖅ ᖃᓄᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᒥᓂᒃ ᐊᓯᔾᔩᕙᓪᓕᐊᓂᖓᓂᒃ. ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒡᓗ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᖁᓛᓂ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᔪᒃᑯᑦ, ᑭᓯᐊᓂᓕ ᐃᓅᓯᓪᓚᑦᑖᒃᑯᑦ ᓇᓗᒋᖏᑦᑎᐊᒻᒪᕆᒡᓗᒍ ᐱᐅᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑕᑯᔭᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ. ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᙳᓕᓵᖅᑐᖅ ᐸᓪᓗᖅ ᓴᐃᒻᒪᔪᐊᓕᒃ ᑕᐃᒪᓐᓇᑐᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᐸᒃᑐᖅ. ᐱᓇᓱᐊᕈᓯᕐᒥ ᐊᒥᓱᐃᖅᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ ᐅᓪᓗᒃᑯ ᑕᐃᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᖏᕐᕋᒥᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᑕᕝᕗᖓ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᕐᕕᖕᒧᑦ ᐊᔾᔭᖅᓯᖃᑦᑕᖅᐳᑦ ᓂᐅᕐᕈᑎᖃᕆᐊᖅᑐᖅᖢᑎᒃ. ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᕕᓂᐊᓂᒃ ᐅᑕᖅᑭᔪᖅ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ (2018), ᓴᐃᒻᒪᔪᐊᓕᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᓚᐅᖅᐳᖅ ᐊᔭᒥᓂᒃ, ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᒥᒃ ᐃᓕᓴᐱ ᓴᐃᒻᒪᔪᐊᓕᒃ ᐳᓪᓚᒥᑦ, ᐃᑦᑐᐊᖅᑐᙳᐊᖅᖢᓂ ᐃᒐᓛᒃᑯᑦ ᑖᖅᖢᓂᓗ ᐅᓐᓄᒃᓴᓕᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖓ, ᐅᑕᖅᑭᔪᖅ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ. ᓯᕗᓪᓕᕐᒥᓕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖃᑦᑕᓕᓵᖅᑎᓪᓗᒍ, ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓂᑦ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᓂᖃᑦᑎᐊᖅᐸᓚᐅᖅᐳᑦ ᑖᔅᓱᒪ ᓴᐃᒻᒪᔪᐊᓕᐅᑉ ᑎᑎᕋᔭᖅᑕᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᑖᒃᑯᓇᓂ, ᐊᑐᖅᐸᒃᑐᖅ ᓄᑖᓂᒃ ᐃᒡᓗᒋᔭᐅᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓗᓕᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᐸᒃᖢᓂ; ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ
57
An Insider’s View
OPPOSITE
Padloo Samayualie (b. 1977 Kinngait) — Looking For the Buyer 2018 Pencil, coloured pencil and ink 58.4 × 38.1 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST
ᐃᒡᓗᐊᓃᖅᑐᖅ
ᐸᑦᓗ ᓴᒪᔪᐊᓕ (ᐃᓅᓕᕐᕕᐊ 1977 ᑭᙵᐃᑦ) — ᕿᓂᖅᑐᖅ ᓂᐅᕕᕈᒪᔪᒥᒃ 2018 ᑎᑎᕋᐅᑎᒥᒃ, ᑕᖅᓴᓕᖕᒥᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᐃᒪᓕᖕᒥᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ 58.4 × 38.1 ᓴᓐᑕᒦᑕ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᒃᑲᓐᓂᖅᑐᖅ ᐊᖏᕈᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᑭᙵᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᐊᖏᖅᑕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᕕᕼᐃᓕ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ © ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎ
ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᐸᒃᑕᖏᑦ ᐃᓚᖃᖅᐸᒃᑐᑦ ᓇᖕᒥᓂᖅ ᐱᐅᒋᔭᒥᓂᒃ ᖃᓄᖅ ᐃᒡᓗᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᔭᐅᓯᒪᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᕕᓂᐊᓂ ᐅᑕᖅᑭᔪᖅ ᓂᐅᕕᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ, ᑖᓐᓇ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᖓ ᐃᓄᙳᐊᖅ ᐱᐅᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᖅ ᑭᓱᓕᒫᖏᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᓯᒪᓪᓗᑎᒃ. ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᓕᕆᕝᕕᐊᓂ ᐱᑕᖃᓕᖅᐳᖅ ᓄᑖᓂᒃ ᐃᓂᒋᔭᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑎᓄᑦ ᑭᙵᕐᓂ. ᑕᐃᒪᓕ ᐅᑭᐅᑦ ᖃᓄᑐᐃᓐᓇᖅ ᖃᓄᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᓂᐊᖅᑐᒥᒃ ᐋᖅᑭᒃᓯᓯᒪᓕᕋᓗᐊᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᐊᖏᕐᕋᒥᓂ, ᖁᐊᐸᒃᑯᓐᓂ, ᒥᑦᑕᕐᕕᖕᒥ ᐅᕝᕙᓘᓐᓃᑦ ᐱᙳᐊᕐᕕᖕᒥ, ᓇᓗᓇᖏᑦᑎᐊᖅᐳᖅ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᕆᔭᐅᔪᑦ ᑎᑎᕋᐅᔭᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᐊᕐᒪᑕ ᓲᕐᓗ ᐃᒡᓘᑉ ᐃᓗᐊᓃᙳᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᑲᔪᓯᑎᑕᐅᖏᓐᓇᕐᓂᐊᖅᑐᑦ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᒧᑦ.
Elisapee Samayualie Pudlat, looking out a window in the dark of late afternoon, her drawing in a tube, waiting for the buyer to return. From her earliest work, architectural details have been an integral part of Samayualie’s drawings. This drawing is part of a remarkable series featuring the new KCC. In these, she utilizes the contours of the new building and its interior; her mastery of drawing is combined with her love of architectural details. In Looking For the Buyer, the figure is perfectly framed. This elegant, fully resolved drawing typifies the minute attention to detail and graphic brilliance of this artist. The Kenojuak Cultural Centre provides a new setting for the contemporary artists of Kinngait. As time goes on, whether the subject is set in the studio, in homes, in the co-op store, the airport or the community hall, it is evident that this long-standing tradition of depicting interior scenes will continue into the future.
—
ᐹᑦ ᕕᕼᐃᓕ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᔨᐅᔪᖅ ᑕᕝᕙᓂ ᕕᕼᓕ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂ, ᑐᕌᓐᑐᒥ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᕆᔨᒃᑯᖏᓐᓂᑦ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᐅᓯᑐᖃᕐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪ ᒫᓐᓇᐅᓕᖅᑐᖅ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᐱᒋᐊᓕᓵᖅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ, ᕕᕼᐃᓕ ᐱᒋᐊᖅᑎᑦᑎᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᑖᔅᓱᒥᖓ ᑕᑯᔭᒐᖃᕐᕕᖕᒥᒃ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᐊ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐊᑦ ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᓂᒋᑦ. ᐅᑭᐅᑦ ᐊᕙᑎᑦ ᒪᕐᕉᒃ, ᑕᑯᔭᐅᑎᑦᑎᓯᒪᓕᖅᑐᑦ ᑖᔅᓱᒪ ᐋᓂ ᐳᑐᒎᑉ, ᓱᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓲᓇᐅᑉ, ᓴᐃᒻᒪᐃᔪᖅ ᐊᑭᓲᑉ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐅᓘᓯ ᓴᐃᓚᐅᑉ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᖏᓐᓂᒃ. ᕕᕼᐃᓕ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᑦᑎᐊᖅᑐᖅ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᓂᑰᓪᓗᓂᓗ ᑕᒪᒃᑯᓂᖓ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓂᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑕᐅᖃᑦᑕᕐᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ, ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓅᓯᓕᒫᖓᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᓂᑰᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑲᓇᑕᐅᑉ ᐅᑭᐅᖅᑕᖅᑐᐊᓂᕐᒥᐅᓂᑦ. ᐊᒻᒪᓗᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᑎᑎᕋᖃᑦᑕᖅᓯᒪᓂᑰᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᓴᓇᐅᒐᓕᐅᖅᑎᓂᒃ ᐱᔾᔪᑎᖃᖅᖢᓂ.
— Pat Feheley is the Director of Feheley Fine Arts, a Toronto art gallery specializing in traditional and contemporary Inuit art. From the beginning, Feheley has spearheaded the gallery’s ongoing program of catalogued exhibitions. Over the last two decades, the gallery has championed emerging Inuit artists such as Annie Pootoogook, Shuvinai Ashoona, Samaiyu Akesuk and Ooloosie Saila. Feheley has an extensive administrative background in the visual arts, coupled with a lifetime of experience with Inuit and the Canadian Arctic. She has also published widely on the subject of Inuit art.
NOTES
ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᐃᑦ
Unless stated otherwise, Interviews were conducted by Pat Feheley.
ᐊᓯᐊᒍᑦ ᐅᖃᐅᓯᐅᖏᒃᑯᓂ, ᐹᑦ ᕕᕼᐃᓕᒧᑦ ᐊᐱᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᑐᖅ.
1
Pitseolak, Peter and Eber, Dorothy. People from our Side: A Life Story with Photograph and Oral Biography (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1993), 133.
2
Interview with Ohotaq Mikkigak, Kinngait, July 2012. Kenojuak Ashevak corroborated this memory.
3
Interview with Qavavau Munamie and Joemie Takpaungai, Kinngait, February 2021.
Inuit Art Quarterly
58
1
ᐲᑕ ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑐᕈᑎ ᐃᐳᕐ, “ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐅᕙᑦᑎᓐᓃᑦᑐᑦ,” McGill-Queen’s University Press (ᒪᕐᑐᕆᐊᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᑮᖕᔅᑕᓐᒥ, 1993) 133.
2
ᐅᓲᑕᖅ ᒥᑭᒐᖅ ᐊᐱᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒍ ᑖᔅᓱᒧᖓ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑎᐅᔪᒧᑦ, ᑭᙵᐃᑦ, ᔪᓚᐃ 2012-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ. ᕿᓐᓄᐊᔪᐊᖅ ᐋᓯᕙᐅᑉ ᓇᓗᓇᐃᔭᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ ᑖᓐᓇ ᐃᖅᑲᐅᒪᔾᔪᑎᒃᓴᖅ.
3
ᖃᕙᕙᐅᖅ ᒧᓇᒥ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᔪᒥ ᑕᒃᐸᐅᖓᐃ, ᐊᐱᖅᓱᖅᑕᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᒃ ᑎᑎᕋᖅᑎᒧᑦ, ᑭᙵᐃᑦ, ᕕᕗᐊᕆ 2021-ᖑᑎᓪᓗᒍ.
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An Insider’s View
IMMERSIVE
Our imaginations have the power to transport us to different places and times simply by closing our eyes. But what if we didn’t have to close our eyes to see new perspectives? Our ability to visit places, known and unknown, is transforming as the world becomes increasingly more high-tech, with virtual reality on the cutting edge of this change.
WORLDS — by Kaylee Maddison
Filmmaker Nyla Innuksuk has embraced this shift, creating films that combine her love for storytelling and virtual reality technology. Through her creations, Innuksuk encircles us inside new worlds where we can experience them with our eyes wide open.
PREVIOUS SPREAD
Panniqtuuq, NU
COURTESY UNSPLASH PHOTO ISAAC DEMEESTER
BELOW
Nyla Innuksuk wearing a VIVE VR headset and immersed in a virtual reality experience at a work meeting in 2018 PHOTO KSENIA STASSIOUK
“One of my strongest early memories of watching movies was in grade three with a friend. My mom had rented the movie The Birds for us,” recalls Innuksuk. “I remember thinking this is way too scary for us but also, it’s such a thrill.” When Innuksuk moved to Toronto at 17 to study film production at Ryerson University, her mother left her with clear instructions: “Promise me you’ll make the scariest movie I’ve ever watched.” Innuksuk has worked hard to keep that promise, first experimenting with horror and Inuit storytelling through her 15-minute short Kajutaijuq. Released in 2014, Kajutaijuq follows an Inuk hunter across the Arctic terrain as he tries to survive using traditional skills passed down by his grandfather. That same year, Innuksuk’s passion for storytelling and film spun off in a new direction when she discovered VR at an indie gaming meet-up in Toronto. At the time, the interactive film scene was made up of early enthusiasts. Headsets were still clunky, and Facebook and YouTube hadn’t yet launched their 360-degree players. Anyone wanting to film in 360 degrees had to fasten a cluster of cameras together into a ball (Innuksuk created a camera using a bunch of GoPros held together with 3D-printed holders). Her curiosity with the medium grew quickly, and by the following year she was walking around Toronto with VR goggles in her backpack.
If you’ve never experienced a virtual reality (VR) video before, ask Nyla Innuksuk to explain it to you—and prepare to be captivated. During our interview, Innuksuk lifts a mug up to her webcam, describing what I would see and hear through a pair of VR goggles. She explains that in virtual reality, you can walk backwards and forwards, and see all the way around the mug. The experience is different from the 360-degree videos found on YouTube or Facebook in which you’re fixed in one place, confined by a flat 2D image. From there, you can’t see the back of the mug or walk behind it. On a technological and artistic timeline, VR, 360-degree video and augmented reality (AR)—which layers digital objects on top of real-world imagery—are still in their early days. Yet Innuksuk has already made a name for herself in the emerging interactive film industry, reaching audiences with her immersive projects. Born in Iglulik, NU, in 1986, Innuksuk grew up in Iqaluit, NU, before moving to Kingston, ON, at the age of eight. From a young age Innuksuk was fascinated with horror and sci-fi movies, thanks to her mother’s love of Alfred Hitchcock and scary stories. Throughout our interview, she reminisces about childhood films—shockers like The Shining and Jaws, as well as E.T. and Hackers, in which she recalls the villains wearing VR-like headsets.
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RIGHT
Stills from Innuksuk’s 360-degree video for the song Indian City by The Halluci Nation COURTESY INDOOR RECESS PUBLIC RELATIONS INC.
streetwear-clad break-dancers and powwow dancers outfitted in full regalia. A giant pixelated avatar of an Indigenous man hops around in the background, bouncing off Toronto’s skyline and the surrounding trees. Whether you see him or not depends on where you’re looking. As enticing as the project’s visuals are, it’s the moving soundscape that makes the video a memorable experience. Depending on which group of dancers are gazed upon, the sound adjusts. Look at the traditional dancers, and the powwow music is amplified; turn to watch the break-dancers, and the electronic beats take over. For Innuksuk, it’s that element of interaction that brings the video into VR territory, as the viewer suddenly has an impact on what is being seen or heard. As VR producer on the CBC short documentary Impossible to Contain, Innuksuk revealed the technology’s ability to tell more personal stories. Examining the aftermath of a diesel spill near the First Nations community of Bella Bella, BC, the 360-degree video travels on helicopter rides, along the impacted waterways and into one family’s home for a feast. During the scene, the camera is positioned at the centre of the table, surrounded by five family members, plates of food and condiments. The narrator introduces
The initial feeling of working with VR reminded Innuksuk of trying to make movies with friends in high school. “We had no idea what we were doing; we would just be doing it for fun,” she says. “But that’s how we learned to do it and most importantly where we learned we had a passion for it.” While early virtual immersion was enchanting for its storytelling possibilities, there were unavoidable technical challenges. Stitch lines—the seams in a 360-degree video where footage from one camera meets another—were poorly constructed. Latency, which is the delay between human action and the headset’s reaction, caused nausea in viewers. Despite its shortcomings, the technology’s active development drew Innuksuk in. “You really are doing stuff that hasn’t been done before, which is different than with movies,” she says. “There is no expert [in the field]. You’re making mistake after mistake, but you’re also learning and getting better.” That early adoption and hustle helped Innuksuk connect with other creative professionals across Canada. In 2017 she became imagineNative’s first Indigenous VR/AR resident, through which she collaborated with The Halluci Nation (previously A Tribe Called Red) to produce a 360-degree video for the group’s song, Indian City. The video takes place in the middle of a dance battle between
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“I had this realization that if I’m going to live and am going to be working as hard as I have been, I want to actually be doing and telling stories that I want [to tell] my way.”
each individual in a manner that encourages gazes to shift to each person being described. This intimate point of view gives the illusion of holding physical weight in the space and in the story. In late 2016, around the same time Innuksuk’s credits in the VR world were growing, she became severely ill and was given a 50/50 chance of living through the month but didn’t stop working. “When you’re working in interactive you can think, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to be the first to do this.’ And for someone like me, if the opportunities are there, it feels like you have to take advantage of them.” During the six months between her prognosis and liver transplant in May 2017, Innuksuk helped launch 2167, an immersive media project featuring a series of VR films created by Indigenous artists. She recalls having to wear slippers out in the snow to do camera tests for Danis Goulet’s The Hunt, due to the water weight she’d gained. After recovering from surgery, Innuksuk re-evaluated her value as an artist. “I had this realization that if I’m going to live and am going to be working as hard as I have been, I want to actually be doing and telling stories that I want [to tell] my way.” This manifested in her decision to write and produce her first feature-length film, Slash/Back, in which four 14-year-old girls chase down and battle extraterrestrial creatures that invade their home community of Panniqtuuq (Pangnirtung), NU. The sci-fi adventure is due to premiere later this year. Innuksuk was also inspired to start up her own VR production company—Mixtape VR—and she expanded her writing credits as well, co-creating Marvel Comics’ Inuk teenage superhero, Snowguard, who wields mystical shape-shifting powers. Despite an outpouring of projects across different mediums, that early passion for VR hasn’t dwindled. “My movies feel like my job and then VR is this amazing new way of telling stories that is really creative and a cool thing to explore,” she says.
ABOVE Still from Slash/Back, 2020 COURTESY THE ARTIST
BELOW Marvel Comics character Snowguard
COURTESY JIM ZUB © 2021 MARVEL
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ABOVE
Innuksuk speaks to the crew during filming of Slash/Back, 2020, Panniqtuuq, NU, 2019
Although virtual technology has evolved significantly since Innuksuk’s first experiments, one key roadblock remains: accessibility. That factor—who actually owns headsets and how are they integrated into different spaces—is proving to be a particular challenge for the interactive mixed-reality exhibition Innuksuk is currently planning at Qaumajuq, the new Inuit art centre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Manitoba. Based on the Inuit belief system of Sila, in which every living thing is connected by an invisible breath, the exhibition will allow audiences to interact with both virtual and physical elements within the gallery. How exactly those interactions will manifest is part of Innuksuk’s artistry. She says, “It’s really fun to tell this story through this totally different medium that is taking advantage of the fact we’re going to be taking up space in a physical environment.” To create an exhibition experience that “feels like magic,” Innuksuk must first determine which interactive technology is most suitable—VR headsets, mobile phones featuring AR apps, headphones or a combination of technologies—alongside the ways visitors can use their physical bodies to influence what is seen or heard. One of the many layers Innuksuk is considering is changing the soundscape as you walk closer to another person or piece of artwork to create a feeling of interconnectedness. Of course, the limitations of interactivity within a gallery space are still unknown in the post-COVID world. But Innuksuk will continue to push the technology’s creative limits in an effort to achieve the desired “sense of presence” VR strives for.
COURTESY THE ARTIST
BELOW
Stills from Innuksuk’s first feature-length film Slash/Back, 2020 COURTESY THE ARTIST
— Kaylee Maddison is a Canadian freelance journalist. She has written on the arts and culture for publications including Up Here, Toronto Star, Visual Arts News and more.
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CURATORIAL NOTES
Nagvaaqtavut: What We Found The Audio Guide for INUA
by Heather Igloliorte
That is why we decided early on that we should prioritize the creation of a strong and complementary online presence for INUA. The title of the exhibition—which I co-curated with asinnajaq, Krista Ulujuk Zawadski and Kablusiak—refers to inua, meaning spirit or life force. It is also an acronym conceived by Krista and her anana, Maggie. INUA: Inuit Nunangat Ungammuaktut Atautikkut translates to “Inuit Moving Forward Together.” We made Inuit collaboration and collective futurity a broad theme, but we didn’t just draw upon this idea to select artworks. Rather, it also became the ethos that we brought forward throughout the project on multiple fronts. In one major manifestation of these efforts to work together, we brought artists into conversation with one another from across Inuit Nunaat, so that the national borders between Alaska, Canada and Greenland were deprioritized and our collective peoplehood highlighted instead. We also formalized this theme as our way of working as co-curators, agreeing early on
Qaumajuq, the new Inuit art centre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG), opened March 26–27, 2021, with a powerful two-part special event that was both televised and streamed live by thousands of people across Canada and internationally. The virtual opening was followed by the physical opening of the new space to the local public, using careful social-distancing protocols by offering time-ticketed visits to Manitobans. It was not the all-weekend, jam-packed opening celebrations I imagined when I first began working on the inaugural exhibition of the new space, INUA, back in 2017; but with the benefit of time to plan during the pandemic, with an amazing group of colleagues, the guidance of elders and artists, and the incredible Indigenous production company Eagle Vision, I think the virtual opening of Qaumajuq was one of the most moving, beautiful events I’ve ever witnessed. Still, we knew that due to travel restrictions, for at least the first half of the exhibition run, the majority of our audience for INUA would be virtual.
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CURATORIAL NOTES
that all decisions would be made by Aajiiqatigiinniq (through discussion and consensus), and we actively recruited Inuit into other key roles within the project, with the general aim of making this the most Inuk-led exhibition to date that we knew of. Jocelyn Piirainen, the first-ever Inuk curatorial staff member at the WAG who was hired in 2018, was brought on board as our extraordinary project manager and ongoing collaborator. The exhibition design was created by Nicole Luke, an architect who recently graduated from the Master of Architecture program at the University of Manitoba, and perhaps the first Inuk exhibition designer to date. We were fortunate to work with early childhood educator (and recent University of Winnipeg graduate) Kayla Bruce, who developed educational youth programmes that will run in person and virtually throughout the year. We are also working with Inuk graphic designer Mark Bennett, who began by designing the exhibition title and labels and who is now designing the forthcoming catalogue. All the aforementioned Inuit have been invited to also contribute to the catalogue, along with Theresie Tungilik, who is a WAG board member, Indigenous Advisory Circle member and senior arts administrator, and who has been guiding the opening of Qaumajuq at a high level since before ground was even broken. We have also been working with the training and mentoring initiative I direct, Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership: The Pilimmaksarniq/ Pijariuqsarniq Project, to develop a multivocal audio guide. Co-created by the curators, exhibition team, artists and the more than 20 Ilinniaqtuit (postsecondary students) currently working across this project; Nagvaaqtavut: What We Found is an all-Inuit and Inuvialuit co-created audio guide—organized by Inuit Futures staff members Danielle Miles and Jasmine Shira, and copy-edited by Ilinniaqtuk Tiffany Larter—that accompanies the 360-degree virtual tour of INUA by showcasing Inuit and Inuvialuit voices, and sharing many diverse perspectives on the works in the exhibition.
OPPOSITE asinnajaq, Nicole Luke, Kablusiak and Krista Ulujuk Zawadski install wallhangings, 2021 ALL IMAGES COURTESY THE WINNIPEG ART GALLERY PHOTO CALVIN LEE JOSEPH
ABOVE (LEFT) INUA installation at Qaumajuq, 2021 PHOTO DAVID LIPNOWSKI
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CURATORIAL NOTES
As of June 1, 2021, visitors to wag.ca are able to “walk around” the 360-degree virtual exhibition; learn about the artists’ histories and biographies via a partnership with the Inuit Art Quarterly; watch the panel talks, artist interviews and workshops that will happen throughout the exhibition run and also engage with the audio guide, Nagvaaqtavut: What We Found. The audio guide, which includes Inuktut translations for all entries, was named by Inuit Futures leadership team member and mentor Taqralik Partridge and PhD candidate Krista Ulujuk Zawadski. To create the audio guide, Inuit Futures, linniaqtuit and team members met, discussed and shared with each other “what we found” as we explored creative ways of engaging with individual stories and artworks through sound, music, memory, language and food. Just as the exhibition draws attention to the changing seasons on the land and intersecting relationships between Inuit across Inuit Nunaat, the audio-guide entries in Nagvaaqtavut: What We Found are distinct and varied, yet unified, much like the Alutiiq, Inuit, Iñupiaq, Inuvialuit, Kalaallit, Yup’ik and other distinct groups of the Inuit family around the circumpolar Arctic. The contributors, much like the 91 artists in the show, share their keen and cutting observations, wry Inuit humour and joyfulness, and perspectives on where we come from and where we are going. The entries are diverse; some of the Ilinniqatuit wrote art-historical analyses, while others wrote personal reflections; some wrote about community histories while others responded to the artworks with poetry and prose.
Inuit Art Quarterly
ABOVE
Suzannah Igloliorte (b. 1917–1992 Apvitok) — Purse n.d. Tanned hide, fabric and beads 21 × 26 × 5 cm PHOTO DAVID LIPNOWSKI
OPPOSITE Heather Igloliorte and Jocelyn Piirainen, 2021 PHOTO CALVIN LEE JOSEPH
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Here we share some excerpts of a few of the wonderful and distinct audio-guide entries of Nagvaaqtavut: What We Found, and we invite you to visit wag.ca to listen to the full guide, which will continue to grow throughout 2021. Couzyn van Heuvelen, Sealskin Rug, 2021
Oviloo Tunnillie, Woman’s Torso, n.d.
I love a lot of things about Couzyn’s multidisciplinary practice, such as the way he blends unconventional materials and subject matter together, as well as how he carries our traditions into contemporary times, but the thing I appreciate most about his work is how he plays with scale. The way he transforms Inuk materials is so exciting. These unassuming, perhaps everyday materials to some Inuit (like sleds, or seals or hunting tools) become emphasized, and their larger-than-life representation expresses to every viewer just how precious these objects are to Inuit. I also love imagining a seal of this size, and thinking of how many it would feed and clothe, and how revered it would be.
This carving resonates with my own sense of self. It makes me think of my inner journey of understanding my own body and my own sense of self as a woman, and specifically as an Inuk woman. When I go up North, I have a certain freedom in presenting myself without Western conventional expectations of beauty. It doesn’t matter what I wear, if I put on some weight or if I decide not to put on makeup. Rather, my experience is about the connections I have with family and community members, and the land. As soon as I get off the plane in Tio’tià:ke (Montreal, that is), I feel like I immediately lose that connection with the land. The focus is no longer on these connections, but on mere aesthetics—where my body is ascribed certain expectations.
—KABLUSIAK
—CHRISTINE QILLASIQ LUSSIER
Gabriel Isaac Suarak, Man Laying Out Seals, c. 1974 Gabriel Isaac Suarak’s carving shows a hunter, bringing in a number of seals all by himself, in preparation for a feast. He may look to be lonely, but what we do not see is the large family and community members that one would imagine he will be sharing his catch with. Sharing food with others strengthens the bonds between family and community, as also shown in Megan Kyak-Montieth’s stop-motion animated film, Whale Hunt: I Think Everyone is Here. —JOCELYN PIIRANEN
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CURATORIAL NOTES Gukki Nuka, Kaalaralaaq, 2009
Lindsay McIntyre, Ajjigiingiluktaaqugut (We Are All Different), 2020
As a curatorial team we have been excited to include ceramics in the exhibition since the early stages of planning. Nuka’s ceramic work is completely unique and exceptionally executed. This matte black vessel holds a beautifully sleek shape on its own. I imagine the shape being delicate shoulders and a slender neck. Atop the vessel Nuka has placed rows of small white figures that look like a cross between a spirit and a seal. These figures are places in rows that are reminiscent of the Nuilarmiut; an essential piece of the Greenlandic costume. This remarkable piece is the first borrowed work that we unboxed in the gallery. It was the first artwork that we installed as a team, as such it gave me an incredible sense of inspiration for what we were about to accomplish. Simply for this fact this artwork will always have a special place in my heart.
The artist Lindsay McIntyre holds a space for every Inuk who watches this to embark on this journey alongside the bear and the speakers. When it comes to identity, belonging and connection to land, our stories allow us to engage with these questions, but in such distinct and definitive ways that are unique to us as individuals as well. For instance, I am a Black Inuk woman, and while I have lived in my home community, I moved to the city when I was fairly young. The longer I was away, the more I would ask myself if I was even Inuk anymore? The more people pointed out my Blackness, the more I would question where I belonged. How could I, a mixed Inuk living in Ottawa, be Inuk away from my homelands? However, this is an ongoing reality for so many Inuit youth, it’s important we hold space and conversation for these types of reflections as prompted by Lindsay’s use of animation and audio.
—ASINNAJAQ
—JAELYN TERRIAK
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CURATORIAL NOTES
Bill Nasogaluak, W.3-1258, 2020
The Number Our names are powerful beyond measure A part of us that we continue to treasure Inuit names foster respect and closeness We, Inuit, have always known this Named after our ancestors and elders Our names were not based on genders To ensure a long and healthy lifestyle This custom has been around for awhile A custom passed down from generation to generation To ensure a strong foundation By cherishing our loved one’s legacy Their spirit was passed down to become our identity This tradition was the Inuit way We never imagined it would be taken away In 1941, our names were replaced. While our faces displaced Not by different names, but by a number Eskimo identification Tags Good intentions they say? I say name exemptions on display We also experienced Residential schools And our children put out as offers The sixties scoop Our sons and our daughters Put in homes that were seen as better Imagine how much this upset her First her name taken And now her children How is this humane?! We exclaim To a government who chooses to blame We coped And hoped But yet still saw our rights revoked We never fought We only sought For justice that was never brought Instead of a face to a name We now had a number that we became
OPPOSITE
Lindsay McIntyre (b. 1977 Vancouver) — Ajjigiingiluktaaqugut (We Are All Different) 2020 Animation on S16mm to digital video, stereo sound and mixed media Dimensions variable
Inuit names, but never numbers, fostered respect and closeness We, Inuit, have always known this —JENNIFER QUPANUAQ
PHOTO DAVID LIPNOWSKI
ABOVE Bill Nasogaluak (b. 1953 Tuktuyaatuuq) — W.3-1258 2020 Green serpentine 49 × 31 × 24 cm PHOTO DAVID LIPNOWSKI
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CURATORIAL NOTES
Mary Pitseolak, Seal Head, 1968 Natchiq natchiq I see you Peeking above the ocean waves Up for a breath of cold Arctic air You see me too Standing upon the ice Seeing you We are kin from long ago Connected through the sea goddess And the soot upon our knuckles Natchiq natchiq you provide us so Food for our bellies Fur for our warmth Fat for our qulliit The works of art created from your fur are among the finest For all that you give us I wish I had something to give Yet I meet you with respect As I meet other beings As I tend to your fur, meat, and fat As I speak and think of you As I do now His little head natchiq natchiq Peaking above the waves Wandering the ocean Fingers of the sea goddess Kin of long ago —TIFFANY LARTER
ABOVE
OPPOSITE
Mary Pitseolak (b. 1931 Kinngait) — Seal Head 1968 Stone 5 × 14.5 × 14.5 cm
David Ruben Piqtoukun (b. 1950 Paulatuk) — Airplane 1995 Brazilian soapstone and African wonderstone 26 × 36.5 × 27.5 cm
REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS
PHOTO CALVIN LEE JOSEPH
© THE ARTIST
LEFT Jesse Tungilik (b. 1986 Iqaluit) — Sealskin Spacesuit 2020 Sealskin, sealskin leather, beads Dimensions variable PHOTO DAVID LIPNOWSKI
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David Ruben Piqtoukun, Airplane, 1995
People in the Western Arctic will reminisce about their youth, even about the order that they were picked up in the plane to be taken to residential school. As a plane ride was more of a novelty back then. Some Inuvialuit would even spend five dollars at the trading post that would become Aklavik to fly for just a few minutes. But the stories stop there, no one will talk about what happened “at school” and no one will ever ask. This is the story depicted here by David Ruben Piqtoukun’s Airplane, the abduction of children by the Canadian government. From their homes, the Igloo; onto the airplane and away. —TOM MCLEOD
— Dr. Heather Igloliorte is an associate professor of Art History at Concordia University, where she holds a Tier 1 University Research Chair in Circumpolar Indigenous Arts and serves as Special Advisor to the Provost on Advancing Indigenous Knowledges. She is also the director of Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership, an accomplished curator and President of the Inuit Art Foundation’s Board of Directors.
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NOTES
All text reproduced with permission from Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership. For complete text, images and information on the artists included in INUA, visit wag.ca.
Interiors
OOLOOSIE SAILA Untitled, 2021
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Inuit Art Quarterly
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NEWS
Updates and highlights from the world of Inuit art and culture Nunavut Heritage Centre Receives $490,000 in Additional Funding from NTI
Illustrator Germaine Arnaktauyok Wins Governor General Award The Canada Council for the Arts named Germaine Arnaktauyok one of the 2021 winners of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, awarding her the Artistic Excellence Award for her 60 years of contribution to the Canadian arts landscape. “Her lifelong interest in her own unique Inuit culture has been an inspiration to many younger artists,” says Dr. Darlene Coward Wight, who nominated Arnaktauyok. Arnaktauyok’s work explores Inuit myths and stories, often centred on feminist narratives of birth and motherhood and larger cultural and political issues affecting Inuit, such as colonization. She is known for her unique coiled line drawing technique, but also works in other mediums like prints, paints and textiles. This win is one in a long line of accomplishments for Arnaktauyok. In addition to seven solo exhibitions and innumerable group exhibitions, she has created two coins for the Royal Canadian Mint and co-authored and illustrated the book My Name is Arnaktauyok (2015), as well as illustrating several other titles. “I’m an artist all my life, and that’s the only thing I know how to do,” Arnaktauyok commented in the video that accompanied the announcement. Interiors
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. expanded their commitment to building a Nunavut Heritage Centre within Nunavut, announcing plans to put $490,000 towards the project in addition to the $5 million already pledged. The proposed centre will house and display artworks and artifacts from the Government of Nunavut’s (GN) collection. Unlike every other provincial or territorial jurisdiction in Canada, where collections facilities exist inside the province or territory, the bulk of the GN’s collection is currently on loan to several institutions in southern Canada, notably the Winnipeg Art Gallery, which houses the fine arts collection, and the Museum of Nature in Ottawa, ON, which houses museum artifacts, fossil collections and archeological collections. “Even though we have very good working relationships with those institutions . . . it’s difficult for Inuit from Nunavut to access the collections, and even more difficult to work actively with [them],” says Torsten Diesel, the project manager at Inuit Heritage Trust charged with overseeing the project. Having a Nunavut-based centre is “a piece of the puzzle of cultural healing and reconnecting with Inuit history and traditions.” To date, the Trust has raised $10 million of the centre’s estimated price tag of $70–90 million. There is also an additional $60 million needed for the satellite centres identified as a key part of the project.
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Germaine Arnaktauyok (b. 1946 Iglulik) — The Things in the Sky 1994 Etching 45.7 × 36.8 cm
Michael Angutituak (1912–1982 Kangiqliniq) — Group on Kudlik 1967 Clay 18.8 × 48.4 × 26 cm
COURTESY WADDINGTON’S AUCTIONEERS AND APPRAISERS, TORONTO
COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY GOVERNMENT OF NUNAVUT FINE ART COLLECTION PHOTO ERNEST MAYER
INUA, Qaumajuq Open to the Public The Winnipeg Art Gallery’s (WAG) new centre for Inuit art, Qaumajuq, and inaugural exhibition, INUA, opened to the public on March 27, 2021, following two days of virtual celebrations, which included performances from performance collective ArtCirq, hoopdancer Marika Saila and throat-singers Nikki Komaksiutiksak and Chastity Swan. With an exterior and interior that recall Arctic landscapes, the new facility is a 36,000-square-foot addition to the existing WAG structure and was designed by Michael Maltzan Architecture. A key centrepiece is the Visible Vault, a three-storey display that houses over 5,000 sculptures from the WAG's permanent collection. Due to the scale of the Qilak gallery, where INUA is housed, the WAG was able to welcome in-person visitors to the space on March 27, using timed ticketing. INUA curators Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, Kablusiak and asinnajaq worked from a process grounded in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit to achieve balance in the space’s first exhibition, a mix that “speaks to where we come from, what we’re grounded in as Inuit,” said Igloliorte during a March 11 press conference. In its first year, INUA will feature a host of virtual and in-person activities, including artist talks, youth-oriented educational activities and self-guided virtual tours.
WANT MORE INUIT ART NEWS? Designers Erica Joan Lugt, Olivia Chislett Among 12 Winners of 2021 National Fur Design Competition Trickster’s Anna Lambe Gets Second Nomination for Best Supporting Actress Get the full news story faster at: inuitartfoundation.org/news
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Mary Okheena Mouth of the River Mary Okheena (b. 1957 Ulukhaktok) — Mouth of the River 1987 Printmaker Mabel Nigiyok Stencil 50.3 × 66 cm COURTESY WINNIPEG ART GALLERY
Inuit Art Quarterly
Say ahhh! A set of candy-red lips part to present a summer-camp scene in this technicolour work by Mary Okheena. Curious geese and cheery polar bears peer in from either side to gaze upon a figure picking berries. A closer look reveals skin tents and dried fish by a cobalt river. This graphic print was created in 1987 when Okheena, along with fellow artists Elsie Klengenberg and Mabel Nigiyok, was developing a new stencilling technique at the Ulukhaktok Arts Centre. This technique allows for areas of vibrant colours and tonal gradients in her prints. Combining her skills as a printmaker with some creative wordplay, Okheena creates a striking visual metaphor for “inner nature.” One’s nature could be thought of as their mindset, essence or way of seeing things in the world. It could also be the physical features of the land—the bustling mouth of a river where currents change and the fish are plentiful. Above all else, there is the spirit of nature, described as inua—the lifeblood that exists in all living things and intimately, inextricably connects the body and the land. LEANNE INUARAK-DALL
Contributing Editor
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Alakkaajut ᐊᓚᒃᑳᔪᑦ (Many Things Appear)
Small Secrets, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, 2018. Photo: Chris Arend
Sonya Kelliher-Combs ᓵᓂᐊ ᑭᓚᖁ-ᑰᒻᔅ Maureen Gruben ᒧᐊᕆᓐ ᑯᕉᐱᓐ Sissel M. Bergh ᓯᓱ ᒧᑕᓕ ᐴᒡ Ukkuiniqalaartuq Natjuijarvik 2021 ᐅᒃᑯᐃᓂᖃᓛᕐᑐᖅ ᓇᑦᔪᐃᔭᕐᕕᒃ 2021 Opening November 2021
Takujaratsanik tukimuattisiji: Taqralik Partridge Ukkuigiannganiq takuksautitsinirmik ukua ilautillugit: Sanannguatiit Ukiurtatumi Ikaarvinga, SAW-kulu, nunaqaqqaasimajuillu sivulirtilugit qaujisarnimik, pivitsaqatsiaqulugit takuminartuliurnimi ukuirtatumi
ᑕᑯᔭᕋᑦᓴᓂᒃ ᑐᑭᒧᐊᑦᑎᓯᔨ: ᑕᕐᕋᓕ ᒃ ᐹᑐᔨ ᐅᒃᑯᐃᒋᐊᖕᖓᓂᖅ ᑕᑯᒃᓴᐅᑎᑦᓯᓂᕐᒥᒃ ᐅᑯᐊ ᐃᓚᐅᑎᓪᓗᒋᑦ: ᓴᓇᖕᖑᐊᑏᑦ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᑐᒥ ᐃᑳᕐᕕᖓ, SAW-ᑯᓗ, ᓄᓇᖃᕐᖄᓯᒪᔪᐃᓪᓗ ᓯᕗᓕᕐᑎᓗᒋᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᓴᕐᓂᒥᒃ, ᐱᕕᑦᓴᖃᑦᓯᐊᖁᓗᒋᑦ ᑕᑯᒥᓇᕐᑐᓕᐅᕐᓂᒥ ᐅᑭᐅᕐᑕᑐᒥᐅᑦ
Curator: Taqralik Partridge Inaugural exhibition for the Nordic Lab, SAW’s new Indigenous-led research and production space with a focus on artists from the circumpolar world www.saw-centre.com
Amplifying Indigenous voices from across Canada through the TD Art Collection Image Credit: Gigaemi Kukwits, Untitled, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 54.61 x 53.5 cm (above); Gigaemi Kukwits, Untitled, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 38.1 x 43.18 cm (below); Photos Barb Choit, Courtesy Ceremonial/Art Gallery Learn more at td.com/art.
Visit TD Gallery of Indigenous Art at 79 Wellington St. West in Toronto. ® The TD logo and other TD trade-marks are the property of the Toronto-Domion Bank.