Inuit Art Quarterly - Freeze Up: Holding the Moment

IN THIS ISSUE:

Osuitok Ipeelee In Real Time — Finding the Floe Edge 4 Photographers Capture Winter — Indelible Ink Harry Egotak

Freeze Up

Holding the Moment

CONTENTS

34.4

Inuit Art Quarterly Freeze Up

Front

Features

Back TRIBUTE

05 From the Editor

60 Harry Egotak

by Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad

06 Meet the Contributors

CURATORIAL NOTES

62 ᓴᕐᖀᒋᐊᓪᓚᓂᖅ: ᐸᑎᒃᑎᒐᓕᐅᕐᓂᖅ

ᓄᓇᕕᒻᒥ (2014–2019) |

Sarqiigiallaniq: Patiktigaliurniq

Nunavimmi (2014–2019) | Resurgence:

Printmaking in Nunavik (2014–2019)

by Lyne Bastien with Maggie Napartuk

and Qumaq M. Iyaituk

08 Impact Update 5 WORKS

18 Game Time CHOICE

20 Ningiukulu Teevee

by Norma Dunning

68 News

CHOICE

22 Amber Webb

by Jason Sikoak

LAST LOOK

72 Itee Pootoogook

ARTISTS’ CORNER

26 Conversations Across Borders PROFILE

28 Ulivia Uviluk

by Jocelyn Piirainen

ARTIST PROJECT

32 Freeze Frame

Four Inuit photographers document the changes fall brings to their landscapes.

42 A Quest for the Real

by John Westren

How Osuitok Ipeelee’s attention to detail transformed his approach to sculpture.

LEGACY

52 Weaving a Dream

by Andrew Qappik and David Cochrane

as told to the IAQ

How a group of weavers came together to create a once-in-a-lifetime tapestry.

ON THE COVER

Susie Seeta Saila (b. 2000 Kinngait) — Untitled (Pink Landscape) (detail) 2020 Coloured pencil and ink 38.1 × 29.2 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY MADRONA GALLERY © THE ARTIST

ABOVE

Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko (b. 1974 Aujuittuq) — Twilight Days 2021 Digital photograph COURTESY THE ARTIST

LEFT

Osuitok Ipeelee (1922–2005 Kinngait) — Walking Caribou c. 1987–88 Stone and antler 60.3 × 54 × 16.5 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY FIRST ARTS PHOTO DIETER HESSEL © THE ARTIST

Freeze Up

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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

Reneltta Arluk Banff, AB

Deputy Editor Sue Carter

Jamie Cameron Toronto, ON

Associate Editor Napatsi Folger

Julie Grenier Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC

Associate Editor Lisa Frenette

Linda Grussani Ottawa, ON

Associate Editor Jessica MacDonald

Goretti Kakuktinniq Kangiqliniq, NU

Contributing Editor Leanne Inuarak-Dall

Michael Massie Kippens, NL

Contributing Editor Bronson Jacque

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: December 5, 2021 ISSN 0831-6708 Publication Mail Agreement #40050252 Postmaster send address changes to Inuit Art Foundation.

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:

Audio-Visual Editor Melodie Sammurtok-Lavallée Copy Editor Nadine Ryan Fact Checker Amy Prouty Advertising Manager Nicholas Wattson Art Director (Interim) Maegan Fidelino Art Director (Outgoing) Matthew Hoffman Colour Gas Company Printing Interprovincial Group —

FOUNDATION Strategic Initiatives Director Heather Campbell

Inuvialuit Settlement Region Community Liaison Darcie Bernhardt

Igloo Tag Coordinator Blandina Attaarjuaq Makkik

Nunatsiavut Community Liaison Jessica Winters

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.

Development Manager Christa Ouimet

Nunavik Community Liaison Nancy Saunders

Operations Manager Brittany Holliss

Nunavut Community Liaison Jesse Tungilik

Artist Services Manager Jon Lockyer

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.

Executive Assistant Alyson Hardwick

Southern Canada Community Liaison Alberta Rose Williams

Inuit Art Foundation 1655 Dupont Street Toronto, ON, M6P 3T1 (647) 498-7717 inuitartfoundation.org

Inuit Art Quarterly

Administrative Assistant Kali Galbraith Archives Coordinator Madeleine Bognar

4

Winter 2021

FROM THE EDITOR

For this issue, Freeze Up, we look both to the latter months of the calendar year as well as to the extraordinary power of pausing—freezing— time through photography, graphic work and sculpture. As the physical world slows and communities and families turn inwards during this time of year, a changed landscape is revealed. Across the North, water transforms into newly solid pathways, enabling travel to locations previously unreachable during the warmer months and ushering in a distinct time of togetherness, on the land and at home.

ABOVE

Harry Egotak (1925–2009 Ulukhaktok) — Untitled (Building their snow house) c. 1962 Graphite 21.5 × 35.5 cm ALL COURTESY CANADIAN ARCTIC PRODUCERS

BELOW

Building their snow house 1962 Sealskin stencil 21.5 × 35.5 cm

Freeze Up

Our first Feature, “Freeze Frame,” brings together photographers Katherine Takpannie, Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko, Holly Andersen and Niore Iqalukjuak to reflect on the changing seasons, each sharing an image of a specific location alongside a personal reflection on the site, their relationship to it and its significance to the winter landscape of which it features. A two-part artist project, companion images of these same locations will be showcased in our Spring 2022 issue, Break Up. The process of capturing a small slice of time is similarly explored in “A Quest for the Real,” a single artist Feature on Osuitok Ipeelee, RCA (1922–2005). Ipeelee, a skilled sculptor from Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, is beloved for his delicate and detailed carvings of Arctic fauna and perhaps best known for his depictions of caribou, which he often captured mid-stride or perilously paused atop four slender legs.

Finally, for this issue we’re excited to introduce a newly reimagined Tribute section. This space will focus on the contributions of a single legacy artist, with special attention paid to an artist whose career and artistic contributions deserve wider recognition. It is our hope that in future issues we can shine a light on the rich practices of some of the artists whose names have evaded extensive study in the canon of Inuit art history.

For our inaugural entry we look to graphic artist and printmaker Harry Egotak (1925–2009) of Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, a fixture of the local studio and regular contributor to the Holman Island Annual Print Collection. Beginning in the early 1960s and until the late 1980s, Egotak thoughtfully and intentionally translated the drawings of his peers, as well as his own, into approximately 200 prints including the piece shown here. At the top is Egotak’s preparatory drawing in graphite and below that, the finished image: an experimental sealskin print produced in a limited run of only six in dark blue and finished with the artist’s distinctive chop, a vibrant green bee. Authored by curator and longtime friend Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad, this issue’s Tribute considers Egotak’s enduring influence on the studio as well as his own creative legacy.

This issue also marks another kind of beginning. On behalf of the IAF staff, I’d like to welcome arts administrator Goretti Kakuktinniq and artist and seamstress Julie Grenier to the Board of Directors. We look forward to working with you both to champion Inuit art and artists!

As 2021 draws to a close—a year that has challenged us all in innumerable ways—I hope this issue finds you safe and well, with anticipation for a brighter year ahead. Our Last Look for this issue, a diptych by Itee Pootoogook (1951–2014), perhaps captures this sentiment best by pairing a spare winter scene of the floe edge alongside a sun-washed coastal scene. Thank you for reading, we look forward to meeting you again in 2022.

Britt Gallpen Editorial Director 5

Front

MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS

“What I appreciated most about looking at the work of Yup’ik artist Amber Webb’s artwork, and writing about her piece Midnight Snack, is that we share the same struggles with identity and the intergenerational trauma of residential schooling and colonialism. Though we are oftentimes separated by tremendous distances, we share stories of the land, our beliefs and, most importantly, our survival.”

JASON SIKOAK

PAGE 22

ABOVE (LEFT)

“While writing this article it became apparent to me that Osuitok Ipeelee was not only a brilliant artist but a fascinating and complex man who despite his great talents put the interests of his community above his own personal gains.”

JOHN WESTREN

PAGE 42

Amber Webb (b. 1984 Aleknagik, AK) — Cycle 2020 Ink on plywood 60.9 × 60.9 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST

ABOVE (RIGHT)

Jason Sikoak (b. 1973 Rigolet, NL) — Sacrilege 2015 Ink 124.5 × 165.1 cm COURTESY THE ARTIST

“On my first visit to the Holman Art Shop in 1981, I was struck by what an intimate and productive place it was. Harry Egotak was printing a stonecut relief of Helen Kalvak’s drawing Plucking the Duck for the 1982 collection. Maybe it was the light—or the contrast of his blue shirt against the black ink, or the line of clothespins waiting for the prints to dry—but it seemed like such an extraordinary image. I am so grateful to Egotak for allowing me to photograph the moment.”

BELOW (LEFT)

Harry Egotak with his wife, Margaret, and Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad’s daughter, Julienne (2000) COURTESY BERNADETTE DRISCOLL ENGELSTAD

BELOW (RIGHT)

Osuitok Ipeelee and his son (1996) REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS

OPPOSITE (ABOVE)

Katherine Takpannie (b. 1989 Ottawa) Here’s to the next chapter (2016)

BERNADETTE DRISCOLL ENGELSTAD

PAGE 60

COURTESY THE ARTIST AND OLGA KORPER GALLERY

OPPOSITE (BELOW)

Holly Andersen (b. 1984 Makkovik, NL) COURTESY THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Winter 2021

CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT

“To protect my equipment from the cold I wrap my camera up with a hat or something in my camera bag and try to keep it close to my body while traveling on a snowmobile. I try not to have my camera out in the cold too long when I am taking photos.”

HOLLY ANDERSEN

PAGE 32

“As a photographer, I have had to deal with some unexpected equipment failures on the fly. Once during a Christmas photoshoot, a flash receiver shorted out, and we modified an ornament hook to fix it!”

KATHERINE TAKPANNIE

PAGE 32

Check out this issue’s artists at inuitartfoundation.org/profiles

Susie Seeta Saila COVER SPOTLIGHT A rising talent in the world of Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, graphic arts, Susie Seeta Saila is making a name for herself with her vibrant and saturated drawings of pattern-rich landscapes and local wildlife. Although a newcomer to Kinngait Studios, Saila has previously participated in Embassy of the Imagination workshops, including a self-portraiture project that eventually made its way to an installation at Square One in Mississauga, ON. Saila’s approach to depicting sea ice, often indicated by spears of wavy blue pigment atop white ground, has become something of a signature—as seen in Untitled (Pink Landscape) (2020), which graces this issue’s cover. Contrasted against deep cobalt and navy oceans as well as mountains in various shades of earth including burnt umber, walnut and sand, Saila’s frozen vistas vibrate with energy. Even her expanses of land are interrupted by daubs of green, white, yellow and black, and her skies adorned with polka dotted clouds or washes of electric salmon pink.

Although winter in the North is often framed as still and quiet, Saila’s drawings reveal there is a world bursting with life under the freeze up.

ABOVE

Susie Seeta Saila (b. 2000 Kinngait) — Untitled (Pink Landscape) 2020 Coloured pencil and ink 29.2 × 38.1 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY MADRONA GALLERY © THE ARTIST

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Front

THANK YOU

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 $25,000–$49,999 Power Corporation of Canada Willmott Bruce Hunter Foundation $10,000–$24,999 Bruce Bailey, in honour of Pat Feheley Susan M. Carter Colourgenics First Arts Flywheel Strategic Goring Family 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

Erik Haites HMH Capital Corporation/ Hugh Hall John and Joyce Price

David and Liz Macdonald Marion Scott Gallery Susan Ollila Joram Piatigorsky Frances Scheidel Hunter and Valerie Thompson

$5,000–$9,999 Rene Balcer and Carolyn Hsu-Balcer Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron Andrew Chodos Patricia and Donald Dodds Elske and Jim Kofman The Herb and Cece Schreiber Foundation and one anonymous donor $2,500–$4,999 Elise Brais Pat Feheley Janice Gonsalves Inuit Art Society Charles Kingsley The Michael and Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation Katarina Kupca

$1,000–$2,499 James and Marjorie Abel, in honour of Xanthipi Abel Kristiina Alariaq, Huit Huit Tours Ltd. capedorset-inuitart.com Nakasuk Alariaq Judy Banning Vincent and Barbara Barresi Patricia Bovey Shary Boyle Gabrielle Campbell New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s Geoffrey E. Clark and Martha Fuller Clark Fund Stephanie Comer and Rob Craigie Yvonne C. Condell

Amy Adams Lea Algar-Moscoe Mary Anglim Andrea Arnold Stephen Baker Vincent and Barbara Barresi Molly Blyth Robbin Bond Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron Tobi Bruce Catherine Campbell Sue Carter Claudia Christian

Catherine Dean Celia Denov Emmanuelle A. Desrochers Hal Dietz Patricia and Donald Dodds Kate Doorly Sophie Dorais Mathieu Doucette Melanie Egan Leslie E. Eisenberg Enerson Lynn Feasey Kashtin Fitzsimons Lisa Frenette

8

Monthly supporter Multi-year pledge supporter Endowment supporter Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award

supporter Inuit Art Quarterly supporter IAQ Profiles supporter

Artist Services supporter

Paul and Mary Dailey Desmarais Neil Devitt Marian Dodds, in honour of Dedie Dodds Arthur Drache CM QC and Judy Young Drache DUCA, in honour of Frits Albert Begemann’s legacy, in tribute to his passion for Inuit Art Jon and Valerie Eliassen Eleanor Erikson Fath Group/O’Hanlon Paving Ltd. Robert and Karlen Fellows Linda Forbes, with thanks to Dr. James Bader, DVM from Merrick Veterinary Practice Dave Forrest Susan Hawkins Molly K. Heines and Thomas J. Moloney Carol Heppenstall Margaret and Roger Horton Jackman Foundation Dwaine and Leslie King Lori Labatt

Britt Gallpen and Travis Vakenti Anik Glaude Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Barbara Hale Andrea Hamilton Celia Harte Lisa R. Hartman Shawn Hassell Dianne Hayman Bryan Hellwig Brittany Holliss Amy Jenkins Rozanne Junker Katarina Kupca

Winter 2021

THANK YOU

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 listed here were made between September 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021.

Barbara Legowski and Lewis Auerbach Kathleen Lippa Maija M. Lutz and Peter A. Tassia MacDonald Griffin Charitable Foundation Christie MacInnes Alison and Bruce McDonald Kathryn C. Minard Caoimhe Morgan-Feir and Graham Edge Danielle Ouimet and Paul Harper, in honour of Christa Ouimet Constance V. Pathy Paul and Carole Pizzolante Ann Posen, in honour of David Braidberg Andrew and Valerie Pringle Alysa Procida and Kevin Stewart Shirley Richardson Michael and Melanie Southern

David Sproule, in memory of Jean Katherine Sproule and Robin Mercer-Sproule Harriet Stairs Marie-Josee Therrien Barbara Turner Gail Vanstone Westchester Community Foundation Bell-Jacoby Family Fund Susan Wortzman and Glenn Smith Norman Zepp and Judith Varga Zynga and two anonymous donors [1 , 2 ]

$500–$999 Carole Ahmad and Family Arctic Co-operatives Limited Devony Baugh Brian and Carol Belchamber

Marc Bendick Jr. and Mary Lou Egan Jean Blane Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron, in honour of Frits and Wilhelmina Begemann Rev. Gary Boratto Tobi Bruce, Lisa-Margaret Bryan CarData - John Domsy Stephen Bulger and Catherine Lash Catherine Campbell Lili Chester Hal Dietz Harald Finkler and Nadine Nickner Yvonne and David Fleck Alain Fournier Galerie D’art Vincent Peter and Deirdre Gardner Carol Gray Linda Grussani Barbara Hale P. Hall Cary Hart

Ainslie Harvey Dianne Hayman Bryan Hellwig Laurie Herd Dale Horwitz Chuck Hudson Christine Hunter, in honour of Susan Hawkins Heather Igloliorte and Matthew Brulotte Louis Jungheim and Thalia Nicas, in memory of Floyd Kuptana Carola Kaegi Rawlson King A. B. Kliefoth MD Jerry and Gail Korpan Dr. Simon Lappi Hesty Leibtag Val K. Lem Michael Martens, in memory of Miriam Bordofsky Patricia McKeown Mireille Menard Kathleen and Brian Metcalfe Metrix

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 Metcalfe Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd Stephen Morris, in memory of Aqjangayuk Shaa Dawn Owen

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 Jean Katherine Sproule and Robin Mercer-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 Weller Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis Jayne Wilkinson Susan Wortzman and Glenn Smith Rahim Yeung and seven anonymous donors, and one anonymous Inuit art appreciator

Illannarijaujut Tunngavinngmit

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.

Freeze Up

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Front

THANK YOU

PHOTO ANNIE AKPALIAPIK

James Miller Elizabeth Mitchell and Stephen Lloyd Allan P. Newell S. O’Hara Lee and Sharon Oberlander Dawn Owen Martin Pâquet Mark Pincus Leslie Reid Jim and Shelly Renner Nicholas A. Robinson Susan Rowley Kassie Ruth H. Sanford and Deborah Riley Celine Saucier Leslie Saxon West Richard Sourkes Amalia and Adam Steinberg Suncor Energy George Szabo Ann and Wayne Tompkins Dr. Joel Umlas Peg and Peter Van Brunt Terry Vatrt Paddy Wales The Wente Family Kim Wiebe and Aubrey Margolis

Manasie Paniloo Akpaliapik has been a sculptor for more than 40 years. Originally from Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay), NU, his work is part of many major public and private collections, as well as numerous exhibitions worldwide. Akpaliapik has long been a friend of the Inuit Art Foundation—a cover artist and subject of several Inuit Art Quarterly articles, a Taqqitamaat Tunisijut member for many years as well as a participant in Qaggiq 1996. Akpaliapik was also a member of the IAF’s Board of Directors in the 1990s and is still an avid reader of the IAQ to stay connected to all things Inuit art.

Craig Wilbanks and Monty Kehl Cathy and David Wilkes Mark and Margie Zivin and 12 anonymous donors [2 ,1 , 7 ]

Linda Cleman, in memory of Fred Cleman Carol A. Cole Louise Collins Cowley Abbott Canadian Fine Art Celia Denov Kate Doorly Sophie Dorais Nathalie Ducamp Lyyli Elliott Lynne and John Eramo Lisa Frenette Sally and Einar Gall Rozanne Enerson Junker Britt Gallpen and Travis Vakenti Susan Gallpen Mary and Ian Glen Peter Gold and Athalie Joy Dr. Andrew Gotowiec Dave Haber and Dominique Ritter Linda Ham Andrea Hamilton Sally Hart Celia Harte Ian Harvey Shawn Hassell Anne Hearn Rick Hiebert

$250–$499 Amy Adams Michelle Allen Eleanor Allgood Bea Alvarez Mary Anglim Birgit Både Jim Bader and Merri Van Dyke Stephen Baker Heather Beecroft Christel and Jurg Bieri Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron, in honour of Dorothy Cameron Woody Brown and Christa Ouimet Kaaren Brown John and Elaine Butcher Mary F. Campbell Denise Cargill Sue Carter Susan Charlesworth Claudia Christian

Charles J. Hilton Debby and Brian Hirsch Joanne Hommik Mame Jackson Sharon Jorgens, with thanks to Erik Melinda Josie D. K. Joyce Keltie Nancy Keppelman Dr. P. Koppinen Mary Kostman Carolyn Lawson Randy Lazarus Haidee Smith Lefebvre Dr. Ellen Lehman and Charles Kennel Linda R. Lewis Daryl Logan Simone Ludlow on behalf of Max and Karl Crain Nagesh Mahanthappa George E. Marcus Paul Mayer Roxanne McCaig Mary-Ann Metrick, in memory of Cécile Metrick Robert Michaud Nancy Moore Gabriel Moreau

LEFT

Manasie Paniloo Akpaliapik has been a part of the Inuit Art Foundation community for decades. Here, Akpaliapik demonstrates another one of his talents at Qaggiq 1996, an IAF event that brought artists together from across Inuit Nunangat to share their work and participate in skillbuilding workshops. © INUIT ART FOUNDATION

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Winter 2021

THANK YOU

I think the Inuit Art Foundation is great to have, because otherwise we wouldn’t have any information about what’s going on in the Inuit art world and most of the galleries tend to seek information from the Inuit Art Quarterly. For me, when I want to know what’s going on, that’s where I look. It’s good information to look for both artists and collectors.”

MANASIE PANILOO AKPALIAPIK

Lise Morneau-Rousson and Yves Morneau Charles Moss/Dee Fenner Mary Nelson Linda Netten Michael and Brenda Noone Shannon Norberg and Jarvis Hall Louisa L. O’Reilly Donna and Hal Olsen Clifford Papke Alex and Ann Pappas Aarohi Patel Kara Pearce Don Pether The Procida Family Frank Reid and Amparo Maya Eva Riis-Culver Bruce Roberts Kerstin Roger Margerit Roger Louise Rolingher, in memory of Dr. Ernest Reinhold, one of the founders of the Inuit Art Enthusiasts of Edmonton Charles Rubin Paula Santrach Joanne Schmidt, in loving memory of Gail Schmidt

Barbara F. Schweger Turid Senungetuk, in memory of Ron Senungetuk Mark Shiner Joyce and Fred Sparling C. Spencer Sara Stasiuk Steinbrueck Native Gallery Colleen Suche E. Taubman Jay and Deborah Thomson Carol Thrun Emilie Tremblay Dr. Anne Vagi, thank you for art, which nourishes and heals us Nicholas Wattson Peggy Weller Jaan Whitehead Judy Wolfe Rahim Yeung And six anonymous donors (1 ,1 , 3 )

Ella Nathanael and Chris Alkiewicz, in memory of Janet Wallace Ley Diana Antoon Reneltta Arluk, in honour of carver Kalluk Kirby R. Armstrong Sue Asquith Anne Claude Bacon Catherine Badke H. Mary Balint Brenda Batzel Eric Barnum Diane Biehl Catherine Birt Cathy Black Bladholm Family, in memory of Terry Bladholm Marjorie Blankstein Molly Blyth Amanda Boetzkes Robbin Bond Stephen and Hazel Borys Annette M. Boucher François Boucher Karen Bradfield Christopher Bredt and Jamie Cameron, in honour of Constance Bredt M. L. Breinig

$100–$249 Diane Abbey-Livingston and Jack Livingston John and Sylvia Aldrich Lea Algar-Moscoe

David Burns Dorothy Caldwell Peter and Carol Camfield Jim and Cindy Carter Paul E. Cawein David Cherepacha Shelley Chochinov Clive and Mary Clark Cobalt Art Gallery Jeffrey Cobb, in memory of Justin Lyman Cobb, III Madeleine Colaço Geraldine and Jeremy Cole Jill Coles Brian and Lauri Connell, in memory of Claud Borchardt Peter Coolican Donna Cowan Scott Cressman Charles Crockford Raymond Currie and Charlene Thacker Currie Fred and Mary Cutler Gordon Davidson Catherine Dean Anne-Marie Delaunay-Danizio Emily Deming Machelle Denison, in memory of Claus Borchardt Paulette Dennis

RIGHT

Manasie Paniloo Akpaliapik’s work has been featured in the IAQ over the years, including having work on the cover of two issues. Audiences connected with Akpaliapik in 1991 through a Feature interview; three decades later, Manasie continues to connect with Inuit art by keeping up with fellow artists and events in the IAQ. © INUIT ART FOUNDATION

Freeze Up

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Front

THANK YOU

Writer Jamesie Fournier originally of Yellowknife, NWT, loves crafting a story. Currently living in Thebacha/Fort Smith, Fournier’s short fiction has appeared in two issues of the Inuit Art Quarterly, where he has collaborated with his brother, artist Zebede Evaluardjuk-Fournier. Fournier’s work is an exploration and celebration of his culture. His stories speak to his wonder and fascination with the unknown.

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Department of Unusual Certainties Tania De Rozario Emmanuelle A. Desrochers Leanne Di Monte Nadine Di Monte Mathieu Doucette Melanie Egan Huw Eirug, Nunavut Film Development Corporation Leslie E. Eisenberg Valentin Erich Mihut, in the name of Orosz Kinga Leah Erickson, in honour of all Inuit artists Keith R. Evans QC Andy Fallas Lynn Feasey Maegan Fidelino Kashtin Fitzsimons Chun Fong Sibyl Frei Ed Friedman Paula Frisch JoAnne and Richard Fuerst Glenn Gear Doreen Girling Anik Glaude Dolores Luis Gmitter Voyages Carole Gobeil Travel

Deborah D. Gordon Karen and George Gorsline Nelson Graburn Patricia Grattan Jean Haalboom, in memory of Claus Paul Borchardt Liz Haines John A. Hanjian Tekla Harms Lisa R. Hartman Clive Harvey Jackie Hatherly-Martin and Keith Martin Janet Heagle, in memory of Frits Begemann Heliographics K. Heller-McRoberts Ingo Hessel Brittany Holliss Albert and Femmeke Holthuis David Homan Warren Howard Allan Hughes Mike Hurry James Igloliorte Iris Susan A. Ivory, in memory of Melvin A. Ivory Drs. Laurence and Katherine Jacobs

Amy Jenkins Chris Jubien Stephanie K. Els Kavanagh Jennipher Kean, in honour of Elizabeth O’Grady Heather Keith Anne Kelly Cathy Kirkpatrick Lynne D. Klemmer Jo-Ann Kolmes Julie L’Heureux Larry and Joyce Lacroix Dr. Virginia Lavin Nancy Lee Rebecca Lee, in honour of David Lee Wynne and William Lee Gordon Leggett Le Grand Élan Genevieve LeMoine, in honor of Meredith MacEachern Susan Lifton Joe and Sandra Lintz Kenneth R. Lister Louise Logan Denis Longchamps Marie Loyer Bob Ludwig and Susan Baum Tanya Lukin-Linklater

Ann MacDonald Mike and Cindy MacMillan Catherine Madsen Samia Madwar, in honour of Hazar Shawaf Peter Malkin Jan Manson Dr. Neil and Elaine Margolis Michael Massie Jim and Mary Alice Mayerle Irene Mazurkewich Elizabeth McKeown G. Lester and Phyllis McKinnon Tess and Duncan McLean, in memory of Terry Ryan Brian McLeod Heather McNab Meesschaert-Verheyen Family Richard and Annette Pivnick Joanna Miazga Anna Rita Migliaccio Stephen Morris, in memory of Aqjangayuk Shaa David Muir Robert Muller Sophia Muylwyk Nahanni and Morea Nanooq Inuit Art Aliide Naylor, in memory of Lyyli Elliott

LEFT

Jamesie and Zebede Fournier collaborated on two short-fiction works in the IAQ, which gave them the chance to share their work with a captive audience and allowed readers to experience the result of the brothers’ unique synergy as collaborators.

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Winter 2021

THANK YOU

Inuit Art Quarterly gave me room to express myself. They provided the support, guidance and space to mature as a writer. Being included alongside so many amazing people accomplishing so many great things for and by Inuit feels unreal. The IAQ gave my brother and I the opportunity to be published together, something I will always cherish. As kids, my brother and I would team up together for projects with him doing the artwork and myself the stories. Being able to relive those times is fantastic.”

JAMESIE FOURNIER

Gary Nelson Lou Nelson Susan Newlove Tommy Niviaxie Marina Oeler Dr. Robert Olson Douglas Palmerton Maria Parsons Kate Permut Father Colin Peterson William Phillips André Picard, in support of creation and dreaming Ed Pien William M. and LuAnn S. Polk Sharlene Rankin Blaine Rapp, in memory of Helen Rapp Bayard D. Rea Bruce Rice Mark Rieger Mickey Rinalli Marcia Rioux Leslie Roden-Foreman Greg Rogers, in honour of the great work done by the Inuit Art Igloo TAG program Gabriel J. Rosenberg, MD Simon Rosenblum Margaret Rundall

The Ryan Family Judith Rycus Lynne B. Sagalyn Dr. Jinder Sall Wally and Lenore Sapach Bruno Savoie James Schmidt Matt Schmidt Patricia Scott Jean Servizi Kerren Shalanski Mari Shantz Elika Shapiro Janet and Benjamin Shute, Jr. Katrina Simmons, in memory of Claus Borchardt Scenery Slater Eleni Smolen Scott Snowden Robert Stafford Jacek Szulc Dr. Charles Haskell Tator Robert C. and Judith Toll Diana Trafford Roslyn Tunis Teri Vakenti Robert and Audrey Vandewater James and Louise Vesper Garnet Ward Brenda and Robert Watson

Mary Jo Watson Lowell Waxman John Weber, in honour of Mary MacDonald Gord and Laurie Webster Claude M. Weil, in honour of Jim Shirley Elka Weinstein Karen Westrell Scott B. White Mark and Margaret Whitley Amanda Whitney Mike and Val Wiles Jayne Wilkinson Judy Willson Garland Austin Withers Daphne Wright Robert A. Wolf Christopher Wood Bea Zizlavsky and 13 anonymous donors (3 ,2 , 9 , 1 ) and one Inuit art appreciator Up to $99 Ariell Ahearn-Ligham Terry Allison Bea Alvarez Susan Anthony Judy Archer

Andrea Arnold Andrew and Lynn Barlow, in memory of Claus Borchardt John Barlow Pat Bavin Heather Belbin Eunice Bélidor Beverly Biderman Kurt Biedermann Susanna Biro Seven Blond Alicia Bojkov Bill Bradley Laurie Anne Brewer Jennifer Brown Kevin Burns Jonathan Bursaw, in memory of John Maounis Jocelyn Bussieres Monica Bye Nilsen, love from Sápmi Mark Cheetham and Elizabeth Harvey Nancy Cleman Sylvie Cornez Rob Cowley and Harmonie May Dennis Crowley Patrick Davis Tovah Delmont Sharon Dembo

RIGHT

“Before Dawn,” written by Jamesie Fournier and illustrated by his brother Zebede Fournier, appeared in the Spring 2019 issue and was Jamesie’s first piece for the Inuit Art Quarterly. Jamesie values having the opportunity to share his stories with an audience that appreciates Inuit art and to be included in a publication dedicated to it. © INUIT ART FOUNDATION

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THANK YOU

COURTESY DAVID SPROULE

It wasn’t long after subscribing to the IAQ that I knew I wanted to support the Inuit Art Foundation, so I give whenever there’s a call to support any project or program. In 2019, I decided to also give monthly because I know this is where I can have the greatest impact. Donating is a way for me to activate my love of Inuit art and it ensures it continues to thrive. Will you join me in giving?”

DAVID SPROULE

Wilfrid Denis and J. Poulin Noelle DeSouza Krista Dieckamp Kristin Dowell François Dumaine Mary Edwards Jane Ely David Feiglin Ian Ferrier Alison Freebairn Frank Gielen Rebecca Gimmi Claire Gold 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 Birgitte Granofsky Susan C. Griswold Delan Hamasoor Kathryn Hanna Beatrice Hanson Alyson Hardwick, in honour of Delphine Shiwak 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 Anna Holmes George Hope Andrew P. Hubbertz Moira Hudgin Elizabeth Hutchinson Cana Itchuaqiyaq Jacobs Celina Jeffery Heather Jessiman, Anne-Remy Jones Jeannette Jonker Anne Kearns Rochelle Konn Peter Kovacik Gary and Susan Kurylo Gretchen Lawrie Teresa Leon Dingwell Anastasia Lintner Sophie Mailloux Susan Marrier Graham Mastersmith William Mather David and Maida Maxham Lindsay McCoubrey Patrick McLean Joanna P. McMann Connor Mellegers Golda and Martin Mendelsohn

A. C. Merrill Suzanne Nash Paul Newman Rob Norquay Peter Noteboom Carole Ouimet, in honour of Christa Ouimet Morna Paterson Louisa Pauyungie Sr. Katie Pearl Danica Pinteric Steve Potocny and Anne Milochik Hélène Poulin Henriette Ricou Elizabeth Robinson Marilyn Robinson Henrietta Roi Enid Rokaw Anita Romaniuk Katie Rosa Robert Rosenbaum Mark Rostrup, dedicated to Paula and Paul Rostrup Richard and Yvonne Rothenberg Susan and Joseph Rountree Jonathan Rutchik and family Rasoul Salehi Genevieve Sartor Claude Schryer Kathryn Scott Doug Selley

Last month, IAF donor David Sproule shared his story of giving with you. He and his wife first fell in love with Inuit art over 60 years ago and today David gives back by donating in honour of his wife, Jean.

This season, you can give back too by making a donation in honour or memory of a loved one. Be sure to give by December 31st, 2021 to receive your 2021 tax receipt.

Please join David in supporting the art you love.

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Paul A. Shackel Shelby Toni Skokovic Lisa Deanne Smith Gregory Sonek Ann Sprayregen Keisha Stefanska Martha Stewart Tom Suber Horace Suffredini Gray Taylor Jowi Taylor, Six String Nation Rebecca Taylor, on behalf of Krista Amy Thompson Bertha K. Thompson Kitty Thorne Gunta Towsley, in the name of Anne Borchardt Ian Trott Darlene Tymn Jon Vickery Charles M. Voirin Larysa Voss Nancy Walkling, in memory of Frank Walkling Ellen Whelan Dallas D. Young Jean Zazelenchuk and 14 anonymous donors (1 ,1 , 5 , 1 , one in honour of Barbara Wood)

To give a gift online, visit: inuitartfoundation.org/ donate Winter 2021

Thank you for supporting Inuit artists!

Thanks to you, Inuit artists can continue to dream and create and have the recognition they deserve! You and other donors listed below came together this summer to make sure the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award (KAMA) will continue.

Gifts listed were received between July 26 and October 1, 2021.

Thank you to everyone who supports KAMA! “I support the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award because Kenojuak Ashevak is an artist so close to my heart and because I want the next generation of artists to have opportunities.”

CAROL HEPPENSTALL, AUTHOR AND INUIT ART SPECIALIST

The Inuit Art Foundation would like to give a special thanks to the Willmott Bruce Hunter Foundation, which matched all gifts up to $20,000 to support Inuit artists through KAMA this year. In addition, the IAF would like to acknowledge John and Joyce Price and Erik Haites for their foundational support of the award in its early development and HMH Capital Corporation/Hugh Hall for his ongoing commitment to KAMA. Thank you to these members of the Tunisijut Circle for their exceptional support through KAMA: Kristiina Alariaq, Huit Huit Tours Ltd. Capedorset-inuitart.com Bruce Bailey, in honour of Pat Feheley Andrew Chodos DUCA, in honour of Frits Albert Begemann’s legacy, in tribute to his passion for Inuit Art Peter Goring MacDonald Griffin Charitable Foundation Inuit Art Society Jackman Foundation Rawlson King Charles Kingsley David and Liz Macdonald

Thank you to members of the Taqqitamaat Tunisijut Circle who made an additional gift in support of artists through KAMA: Amy Adams Mary Anglim Dianne Hayman Katarina Kupca David Sproule, in memory of Jean Katherine Sproule and Robin Mercer-Sproule Thank you to these KAMA donors who are new members of the Ikajuqtiit Circle: Annette M. Boucher Kashtin Fitzsimons Anne-Remy Jones Dr. P. Koppinen Graham Mastersmith Father Colin Peterson

Thank you to this wonderful group of supporters for their incredible and ongoing support of artists through KAMA and other IAF programs: Eleanor Allgood Susan Anthony Heather Beecroft Marc Bendick Jr. and Mary Lou Egan Katharine Bocking Anne-Marie Delaunay-Danizio Deborah D. Gordon Linda Grussani Clive Harvey Ian Harvey Molly K. Heines and Thomas J. Moloney Andrew Hubbertz D. K. Cathy Kirkpatrick Mary Lawrence Breinig Gretchen Lawrie Daryl and Marilyn Logan

Patricia McKeown Patrick McLean Tess and Duncan McLean, in memory of Terry Ryan Heather McNab Robert Michaud David Muir Lou Nelson S. O’Hara Leslie Reid Jim and Shelley Renner Louise Rolingher Kassie Ruth Dr. Jinder Sall Iris Schweiger Patricia Scott Sara Stasiuk Colleen Suche Wayne Tompkins Dr. Anne Vagi, thank you for art, which nourishes and heals us Terry Vatrt Karen Westrell and one anonymous donor

IF YOU DONATED TO THIS FUNDRAISING EFFORT AND DO NOT SEE YOUR NAME, PLEASE CONTACT US DIRECTLY AT COUIMET@INUITARTFOUNDATION.ORG OR 647-498-7717 EXT. 104.

Saskatoon

Edward Poitras, Optional Modification in Six Parts, 2002, encaustic on plywood, 244.4 x 732.6 cm. The Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern.

Purchased with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Mendel Art Gallery Foundation and the Gallery Group, 2003.

Marion Tuu’luq, Qimmit – Dogs, 1978, stencil cut, 35.5 x 53.7 cm.

Highlighting the depth and diversity of Inuit art through collection and commissioned works.

October 30, 2021–March 13, 2022

BIENNALE D’ART CONTEMPORAIN AUTOCHTONE | CONTEMPORARY NATIVE ART BIENNIAL

LAND BACK 6th edition

Image: Duane Isaac, Land/Body, 2020

Starting May 7, 2022 Tiohtià:ke / Montreal Sherbrooke, Quebec www.baca.ca

5 WORKS

Game Time IAF staff share their favourite pastimes when the weather gets chilly

OPPOSITE (TOP LEFT)

OPPOSITE (TOP RIGHT)

Silas Kayakjuak (b. 1956 Sanirajak) — Strength of Mouth Game 2010 Caribou antler 10.2 × 5.1 × 3.8 cm

Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001 Ulukhaktok) — High Kick 1984 Printmaker Harry Egotak Stonecut 53.3 × 76.2 cm

COURTESY SPIRIT WRESTLER GALLERY

COURTESY GALERIE ELCA LONDON

2/

Hannah Tooktoo

Playing String Games (2020) String games, an activity where one manipulates thread between their fingers into a complex sequence of images, are a way to keep the hands engaged.

A tangle of digits, movement and yarn become both pastime and teaching tool during cold winter nights stuck inside the iglu, watching a length of string shifting from kayak to caribou, from fishing net to the flame of the qulliq, illuminating the story being told.

Hannah Tooktoo takes this ephemeral artform and makes it permanent in this painting of brilliant cyan hands marked with tunniit and the artist’s brushstrokes.

Backed by a wash of rosy-pink, this high-contrast image makes clear Tooktoo’s enthusiastic admiration for the beauty and stories produced by these busy hands.

1/

Annie Pootoogook

Playing Nintendo (2006) Two truths and a lie: graphic artist Annie Pootoogook’s (1969–2016) domestic scenes are uniquely inviting with their detailed narrative elements; a bright yellow room can warm even the chilliest of days; and all kids who grew up in the 1990s are good at video games. That last one is the lie. Despite my best efforts I’ve never been skilled at video games. In some ways, being hopeless at them has increased both my nostalgia for and appreciation of the video games of my youth—

LEANNE INUARAK-DALL

Contributing Editor including Super Mario World, depicted here in Pootoogook’s vibrant Playing Nintendo (2006). An artist who has been hailed for depicting the modernity of the North, here Pootoogook also shows us that some things rarely change—on cold days when you’re stuck inside, a steaming cup of tea and a game might be enough to pass the time.

BRITT GALLPEN

Editorial Director

ABOVE

RIGHT

OPPOSITE (BELOW)

Annie Pootoogook (1969–2016 Kinngait) — Playing Nintendo 2006 Coloured pencil 41.5 × 51 cm

Hannah Tooktoo (b. 1995 Kuujjuaq) — Playing String Games 2020 Acrylic 27.9 × 22.9 cm

Darcie Bernhardt (b. 1993 Tuktuyaaqtuuq) — Jijuu Playing Bingo 2018 Oil on canvas 121.9 cm × 152.4

REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY COUNCIL FOR CANADIAN AMERICAN RELATIONS © THE ARTIST

COURTESY THE ARTIST

COURTESY THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Winter 2021

5 WORKS

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Silas Kayakjuak

Strength of Mouth Game (2010) In the cold of winter, keeping warm, passing the time and laughing with others is a bonding experience. Games like the mouth pull strengthen community relationships in Inuit culture.

The game involves two people, arms around each other, using their middle fingers to pull from the inside of each other’s cheek. The object of the game is to withstand the pain for as long as possible.

The pulling can be intense, but it’s always broken by bouts of laughter.

Silas Kayakjuak’s carving shows the two players, challenging one another to push themselves, to build tenacity and discover new limits. Many Inuit games involve testing your physical and mental endurance in the face of discomfort and often pain. This culture of embracing adversity while still finding room to gather and laugh is something I love about our Inuit communities; it is intimate and bonding to share pain and laugh in spite of it.

BRONSON JACQUE

Contributing Editor

4/

Darcie Bernhardt

Jijuu Playing Bingo (2018)

5/

Agnes Nanogak Goose

High Kick (1984) When I see high-kick athletes today, I am amazed at their skill and precision. The images of Inuit frozen in a moment of incredible agility and flexibility are always stunning.

In this piece, Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001) renders what looks like the one-foot high-kick in neutral browns, bright red and a warm, inviting yellow, bringing a splash of energy that livens up the action of the stonecut print. The artist shows us joy in her athlete’s expressions, with raised eyebrows and smiles, using our most expressive features to deepen the emotional tone of the traditional game in this jocund scene. The print calls to mind the excited and impressed yells one might hear from a crowd of onlookers as competitors kick the sealskin balls at increasingly higher positions, or commiserating when they miss their mark by mere millimetres…

NAPATSI FOLGER

Associate Editor

When winter comes, I prefer to curl up in a blanket, get cozy and play games with my family. The strokes of Darcie Bernhardt’s oil painting, Jijuu Playing Bingo (2018), create a familiar scene for many of us during the colder months. Her soft, warm tones evoke feelings of comfort, calling me to take a seat and grab a bingo card. Even though Bernhardt's technique is purposefully hazy, there are tiny, thoughtful details everywhere you gaze— clothes strewn on the floral-patterned couch, a bright orange bingo dabber on the table and a pensive look on her grandmother’s face. Suspiciously absent in the back window is any indication of the weather outside, making me wonder—is she riding out a storm or simply enjoying a quiet afternoon?

Regardless of the weather outside, one thing is clear: the world outside simply falls away when we are playing our favourite games.

LISA FRENETTE

Associate Editor

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CHOICE

Ningiukulu Teevee Qalupalik Under the Ice, Waiting

by Norma Dunning

Inuit Art Quarterly

20

Winter 2021

CHOICE

Teevee’s rendering of a qalupalik uses the deft strokes of coloured pencils to bring life to the wretched, purplish creature crawling upside down beneath thin ice, a representation of a hard Inuit reality.

OPPOSITE

Ningiukulu Teevee (b. 1963 Kinngait) — Qalupalik Under the Ice, Waiting 2011 Coloured pencil, graphite and pen 50.8 × 66 cm

When I first saw Ningiukulu Teevee’s 2011 piece, Qalupalik Under the Ice, Waiting, my initial reaction was so strong that I had to look away and count to three. When a piece of artwork inspires such a visceral reaction, we know that the artist has succeeded at the ultimate goal: eliciting emotion. I couldn’t help but wonder about the unlikely correlation between terror and tenderness, and how scary stories are meant to keep us safe.

Teevee’s rendering of a qalupalik uses the deft strokes of coloured pencils to bring life to the wretched, purplish creature crawling upside down beneath thin ice, a representation of a hard Inuit reality.

A qalupalik is a slithering creature seeking out young prey who have ventured onto the sea ice without adult supervision.

To Inuit children, the idea of qallupilluit actually existing reinforces the understanding that ice is not our friend. It’s a story meant to teach important life lessons. Do not be careless. Do not fool around on or near hiku (ice). Ice can look harmless, but a child-eating monster lurks beneath it.

When we are small, we don’t always heed the warnings of adults when they caution us against doing certain things that could bring us harm. On winter days my mom used to tell me to not lick at the ice on the steel handrails outside on our front steps, but one day I did. My upper and lower lips were glued to that slick piece of ice and I screamed bloody drops of spit until my oldest sister placed a hot cloth on the railing and thawed my lips to freedom.

Ice had become my new enemy, a silent monster luring me into something that would bring me harm. Something that was shiny and inviting had created pain and needed a week’s worth of Vaseline applied

to my mouth three times a day to heal.

Teevee’s precise strokes of white create texture in her ice, and call to mind the uneven, bumpy feel of my lips as they slowly healed. It was certainly a lingering lesson to learn as a child. Ice was not something to be toyed with or ignored.

In this colourful piece, Teevee has brought us the fear-inspired caution necessary to keep all of us off of thin sea ice. The scene shows a tunniit-clad creature as she slides, face up, against the ice’s surface in search of her prey. The legend of the sea creature becomes a reality. Her water-filled amauti is billowing out and she is awaiting the little ones who did not listen to the wisdom of their parents.

Inside of the horror in this print lies the transcendence of Inuit Oral Tradition. Our stories do not die or grow too old to be told. Qalupalik Under the Ice, Waiting is an artistic, visual demonstration of the protection that Inuit parents have over their children. A lesson of practicality that has been told for generations. A message of alertness, observation and the understanding of how deceptive ice can be.

It is a story of love.

— Dr. Norma Dunning is an Inuk writer, professor and grandmother. Her creative work looks at how Inuit who reside outside of the North are viewed by not only southerners but also other Inuit. She has published two collections of short stories and one collection of poetry.

Dunning’s short-story collection, Tainna, was nominated for a 2021 Governor General’s Literary Award. Her fourth book, a work of nonfiction, is scheduled for release in 2022 and a second poetry collection in 2023.

REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS COURTESY INUIT GALLERY OF VANCOUVER © THE ARTIST

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CHOICE

Amber Webb Midnight Snack

by Jason Sikoak

Inuit Art Quarterly

22

Winter 2021

CHOICE

OPPOSITE

Amber Webb (b. 1984 Aleknagik, AK) — Midnight Snack 2021 Ink on wood 53.3 × 45.7 cm ALL COURTESY THE ARTIST

RIGHT

10,000 years of Angniqagcaraq - humor provoking joy 2021 Ink 66 × 53.3 cm

“Unapologetic, self-determined, fat, Indigenous, female sexuality is fucking beautiful.”

This quote, posted by Yup’ik artist, author and activist Amber Webb on her Instagram page, @imarpikink, speaks volumes.

Through her art, Webb shines a spotlight on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in her home state of Alaska and beyond. Too many of our relations have become victims of violence and go missing every day, as highlighted in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

We are not saying enough about this and our elected officials have failed to take action, as called for with the final report from the inquiry as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action.

Our sexuality and bodies have become stigmatized and we face this every day in our communities. For too long we have been shamed and hurt by colonialist voices. Being told by outsiders that we need to look and Freeze Up

act a certain way, to conform to Eurocentric beauty standards, has taken a toll on us, especially on our beautiful grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters. We feel shame in being ourselves: as Indigenous Peoples, as sexual people, as people with a voice.

In this print, Midnight Snack (2021), Webb challenges these colonialist views.

We are presented with a Yup'ik woman about to have, as the title suggests, a midnight snack. Before her lies a feast for the body and soul. Sitting beautifully in her power and her tunniit-covered body, she celebrates herself with what appears to be a hot cup of Labrador Tea, waiting to complement this meal of country food—something every Inuk longs for. As Inuit, we also long to relax in our own beings. Rather than trying to conform to an expected stereotype that may be imposed upon us, we want to enjoy who we are and what makes us happy.

A part of who we are as Inuit is the relationship we have with the land and the waters 23

that surround us and, as such, the food that allows us to survive. Not only do we survive by living off the land that provides for us, we thrive. We all play important roles within our communities, but some of the most important are traditionally performed by our women.

Our matriarchs are very important to us and we must not bring them down, especially not by shaming their bodies. We must build them up by supporting body positivity, sexuality and their reclamation of tunniit. So go ahead girl, eat that snack. Heck, be that snack!

— Born in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, NL, and currently based in Montreal, QC, Jason Sikoak is a practicing artist currently working with mixed media, pen-and-ink drawing and linoleum cut printmaking. Their work is included in the travelling exhibition SakKijâjuk: Art and Craft from Nunatsiavut, which has been installed at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Manitoba and The Rooms in St. John’s, NL, among others.

Front

Michael Massie. Subtle-tea, 1997. Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Gift of the Canadian Museum of Inuit Art. PHOTO: David Lipnowski

Curated by HEATHER IGLOLIORTE ASINNAJAQ KRISTA ULUJUK ZAWADSKI KABLUSIAK

Extended until APRIL 2022 Experience the show online at wag.ca/inua-online

WINNIPEG ART GALLERY—QAUMAJUQ 300 Memorial Blvd. Winnipeg MB Canada

Presented by

Audio Guide Partner

ARTISTS' CORNER

Bringing you into the heart of the conversation across borders Conversations, presented in collaboration with the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Centre, is a series of six live webinars bringing together Canadian and Alaska Inuit artists for moderated discussions. The following excerpt is from one panel, among many.

ABOVE

Conversations is led by a project advisory.

We’d like to extend our thanks to: Kacey Purruq Qunmiġu Hopson, Indigenous Knowledge; Advocate, First Alaskans Institute Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Artist Taqralik Partridge, Director, Nordic Lab at SAW Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, PhD Candidate, Carleton University

Conversations: Music Within Inuit Cultures and Languages artist panel featuring, clockwise from top left: James Dommek Jr., Byron Nicholai, Julia Ogina and Tiffany Ayalik.

COURTESY THE ARTISTS

Recent artist talks available for viewing now at: inuitartfoundation.org/ conversations

Inuit Art Quarterly

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Winter 2021

ARTISTS' CORNER

Moderated by Tiffany Ayalik, Conversations: Music Within Inuit Cultures and Languages brought together circumpolar Indigenous artists James Dommek Jr., Byron Nicholai and Julia Ogina on September 15, 2021. The resulting discussion was an intimate roundtable talk about the past, present and future of Inuit music, a portion of which is captured below: Tiffany Ayalik: I'd love for you all to share a bit about your process when you are creating new music, where that impulse comes from, how you work with traditional sounds and styles to create new music.

Tiffany Ayalik is from Yellowknife, NT, and is Inuit from the Kugluktuk region. An actor, film producer and composer, Ayalik is a Juno Award–winning performer who often collaborates with sister, Inuksuk Mackay, in their katajjaq (Inuit throat singing) band, PIQSIQ.

James Dommek Jr.: I think our people are highly innovative. We take what we have available and we make it work for what we need. I think that our ancestors would want us to learn all the old songs as much as we can, but they would also want us to write [and] to try to add to the cannon. At one point [their songs] were new and exciting and fresh. I think they would want us to keep it going.

James Dommek Jr. is an Alaska Native musician and audio producer.

He has played drums with Alaskan bands The Whipsaws, Pamyua, Meg Mackey Band, Medium Build and Tim Easton as well as Quinn Christopherson. He is a member of the Iñupiaq tribe from the Kotzebue area and the great-grandson of one of the last Iñupiaq story-tellers, Palangun.

Byron Nicholai: I think it was just a few years ago [that] I read a study done by University of Alaska Fairbanks where they predicted that a lot of Alaska Native languages would be lost by the year 2100. That's about 79 years away, which could be just a lifetime. I try to create songs to keep the youth of today engaged in listening to traditional language. It's important to keep the traditions but as James said, we also have to adapt. A question that I asked myself when I started was, “Would our ancestors do this, if they had the same equipment?”

I think they would want us to keep the culture alive—the traditional life—but I think they would also want us to adapt.

Byron Nicholai is a Yup’ik singer, dancer and musician, born and raised in Toksook Bay, Alaska. His work is inspired by his Indigenous heritage. Nicholai has performed across the United States and the Arctic and also regularly performs with the Toksook Bay Traditional Dancers, who taught him to sing and drum.

Julia Ogina has made her home in Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), NU, for the past twenty-one years where she has enjoyed learning to lead and sing songs with community members. Ogina uses song to learn more about the lives of her ancestors, their strength and resilience, a foundation she builds on in her journey as a strong Inuinnait.

Julia Ogina: I begin with what I know and build on it. Traditionally, people who loved to sing would create their own song, [often creating them] as young as possible. And I was asked a few times

by Elders if I had created my own song. I did not know how to create the song, I did not know or understand the terms used in traditional songs. . . As I strived to learn, that’s when I started to understand how very specific these characteristic terms are. Learning to create songs was much deeper for me. I'm creating terms [now], the way I think terms were created. You need to be experimental with your language, be innovative with your language, and be adaptive. We have to evolve. Our language was always evolving...

To hear more from this discussion and others like it, visit inuitartfoundation.org/conversations

In Partnership

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PROFILE

Ulivia Uviluk

BELOW

Ulivia Uviluk (b. 1998 Kangirsuk) — Wearing My Culture (still) 2018 Film 3 min 22 sec ALL COURTESY THE ARTIST

by Jocelyn Piirainen

When I first watched the short film Wearing My Culture (2017) by Inuk filmmaker Ulivia Uviluk, I fell in love with the images on screen. In just over three minutes, through film and sound, Ulivia was able to portray the evolution of not only Inuit traditional clothing, but of traditional throat singing merging with modern beatboxing.

“I’ve always liked movies ever since I was young,” she says. “That’s how I learned to speak English: from watching television.

I love everything related to cinema: editing, filming, shooting, acting.”

Wearing My Culture is the third film Ulivia has directed with the non-profit organization Wapikoni Mobile, which I used to work for as a facilitator. Wapikoni Mobile sends mobile film studios to Indigenous communities across Canada to help train budding filmmakers. “When Wapikoni visited Kangirsuk, I kept seeing everyone’s clothes,” says Ulivia, about the inspiration behind this first film. “They were very pretty and inspiring to me and I thought Inuit Art Quarterly

they deserved to be shown.” Filming in the North in February was challenging—“it was minus a thousand!”—but Ulivia found the editing process the most difficult part.

“I had my ups and downs—and questioned whether my film was going to be good.

Having gone through that challenge was quite uplifting, especially when there were moments when I thought of giving up but decided not to,” Ulivia explains.

Ulivia grew up in Kangirsuk, Nunavik, QC, and was eight years old when she moved to Montreal with her father. Her second film, Not Just a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman (2019), told a more personal story about growing up with her own mother being a missing and murdered Indigenous woman and how this affected her life. “People who don’t have experience with this subject don’t realize how triggering it can be to constantly see this issue in the media— and in a way that is dehumanizing; as if the women are just numbers and [as if 28

they don’t] have families,” she says. “Yes, my mother was a missing and murdered Indigenous woman, but she was also a seamstress and had a lot of friends and family in Kangirsuk.”

Ulivia’s third film, Inuktitut Dialects in the 21st Century (2020), involved participating in a residency with Wapikoni Mobile during UNESCO’s Indigenous Year of Languages in 2019. “I had carte blanche to make a film on anything related to language,” notes Ulivia. While she used to speak Inuktitut, Ulivia lost her language while living in Montreal and made use of online language resources to relearn it later. “One of the goals that I had for this film was the reminder that people can Google ‘Inuit’ and find accurate, reliable information about us.”

While film remains important for Ulivia, she has recently been focusing on practicing her beading skills. “For a year now, I’ve been working on a three-dimensional beaded tupiq for a project put together Winter 2021

PROFILE

ABOVE

Wearing My Culture (still) 2018 Film 3 min 22 sec BELOW

Inuit Languages in the 21st Century (stills) 2020 Film 9 min 16 sec

by [the] Avataq Cultural Institute and Atautsikut called Sanannguanitigut Makitaqatigiiniq - Standing Together Through Art.” Whether through film or fashionable beaded jewellery, Ulivia continues to push the limits of her talents to create meaningful works of art—making her an Inuk artist to keep an eye on!

— Jocelyn Piirainen is an urban Inuk, originally from Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), NU, and is currently working as the Associate Curator of Inuit Art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Manitoba. When not working as a curator, her artistic practice involves experimenting with Polaroids and Super 8 film, as well as honing her crochet and beading skills.

This Profile was made possible through support from the RBC Foundation’s Emerging Artists Project.

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Without you

The Inuit Art Foundation is a registered charitable organization in Canada (BN #121033724RR0001) and the United States (#980140282).

there is no IAQ. Your donation matters. Please give today: inuitartfoundation.org/give

— Translated by Elizabeth Qulaut

Changing seasons have a profound impact on the landscape, reshaping both the way the terrain looks and its physicality, and altering how humans navigate and use this natural space.

We asked four Inuit photographers to document the change in images, exploring what the shifting season means to them. In this issue they take on the fall freeze-up. Stay tuned for the next issue when they navigate the spring thaw.

SIKUVALLIALIQTILLGU

— Inuktituuliqtitaujuq uumunga Elizabeth Qulaut

Sila asijjiqtallialiqtillugu suurlu ukiuq, upirngaaq, aujaq, ukiaksaaq, silamut takuksauninganut asijjiqpalliajjutavaktuq tamannalu nuna Inungnut takuksaulluni asijjirutavakLuni. Tisamanik Inungnik ajjiliuqtiujunik uqalauqpugut ajjiliuriqullugit asijjiqpallialiqtillugu, qajinasuqullugillu nuna asijjiqpalialiqtillugu qanuq tukiqarmangaat ingmingnut. Tavvani titiraqtausimajumik ajjiliurilauqput ukiaksaangutillugu sikuvallialiqtillugu. Qajinasungniaqpusi ajjiliuritillugit upingaangutillugu aukpallialiqtillugu.

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KATHERINE TAKPANNIE Lac Johnston, QC The change in seasons offers different renewals of oneself—a time to slow down and to reflect. This image was taken at my fiancé’s family cottage on Lac Johnston, which is near Wakefield in Quebec. It's about a 40-minute ride from our house to the cottage, so on weekends we try to get up there as much as possible to get away from the city, slow down and check back in with nature. I was using a Canon EOS 70D at the time, one of my very first cameras. I just loved the fall colours and I loved that view from the dock.

— Katherine Takpannie is a photographer based in Ottawa, ON, whose work captures performative and political gestures as well as intimate portraits of women.

Sila asijjiqpallialiqtillugu ajjigiingittunik immikkut nutaangurutauvakpuq-nuqqarjuuminnaqLuni ammalu imminnut takkuksautittivakLuni. Taanna ajjinguaq ajjiliulauqsimajara uiksama angajuqqaangitta igluralaanganit tauvani Lac Johnston-mit, Wakefield Quebec-mit. Immaqaa 40 minutesmit nunasiutikkut ingirrannaqtuq igluttinni tauvunga igluralaarmut, taimali pinasuarusi nunguliraangat tavvungaqattaqtugut nunalipaujaq ungasigijaani, taqaiqsiqLuta amma nuna takuksauninga quviagillugu. Atulauqpunga Canon EOS 70D-mit, sivulliqpaangulauqtuq ajjiliurutiga.

Piugimmarikkakkut ukiaksaanguliraangat nunalu silalu takullugit ammalu nuna takullugu piugimmarikkillugu tavvani tulaktarvingmiitillunga.

— Katherine Takpannie ajjiliurijiujuq Ottawamiutaulluni, Ontiarijamit, ajjiliuqtangit takujausimaniqasuungubut suurlu pilirittiaqsimaniqaqLutik ammalu arnait ajjiliuqpakkillunigit.

Katherine Takpannie (b. 1989 Ottawa) — Untitled 2017 Digital photograph COURTESY THE ARTIST

Katherine Takpannie (Inuulauqsimajuq 1989–ngutillugu Ottawamit) — Taijausimangittuq 2017 Qaritajakkut ajjiliuqtausimajuq AJJILIURIJIMIT QUJALIJJUTAUJUQ

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LAISA AUDLALUK-WATSKO Aujuittuq, NU This is the end of September, when the ice starts to freeze and the snow is on top of the mountains. You can see the water is very mirror-like and the colours are just like what you would find in the leaves changing down South. It was a very low tide, a lunar tide, where we could go down and pick clams and seaweed. I just walked around taking pictures because it's already really cold in September—your hands start to freeze once you hit the water! I thought that the low tide would show off the clamming land in front of the community.

You make the best of it in the last part of the season.

— Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko is a photographer, textile artist and performer from Aujuittuq (Grise Fjord), NU, whose photographic practice often explores the tension between life on the land and 9-to-5 office subsistence.

September nunguliqtillugu ajjiliuqtausimajut, imaq sikuvalliatillugu ammalu kinngait aputiqaliqtillugit.

Takujunnarivutit imaq suurlu tarraqtuujaaqtuq ammalu taqsangit suurlu taimannatut qallunaat nunangannit napaaqtuit taqsangit asijjiqpallialiqtillugit. Tinisimattialauqtuq, tinisimattiaqLuni taimannatut ammumajuqtitut ammalu iqqutitititut. Pisulauqpunga ajjiliurillunga ikkingulilauqpuq suuqaimma Septemberiulirmataggatillu suurlu quaqpallialiqLutik imarmuaqtillugit!

Isumalauqpunga tamanna ukiaksaanguliqtillugu tinisimattiaqtillugu nunalingmiunit qaujititinajaqput ammumajuqtarnaqsingmat tammani nunalimit.

Taimali piuniqpanguvakkivut ukiaksaamit.

— Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko ajjiliurijiujuq, takuksautitisuungujuq sanajamik qallunaqtaanik kisutuinnarnik sanavaktanginnik, ammalu imminik takuksautittiluni Aujuitumiutaqatiminut, Nunavumit, ajjiliuqtangillu takuksauniqasuungullutik inuit illiqqusituqanginnik ammalu ullumiujuq 9-mit 5-mut sanavaktut iliqqusiriliqtanginnik.

Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko (b. 1974 Aujuittuq) — Ukiatsaaq 2020 Digital photograph

Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko (Inuulauqsimajuq 1974 Aujuittumit) — Ukiatsaaq 2020 Qaritajakkut ajjiliuqtausimajuq

COURTESY THE ARTIST

AJJILIURIJIMIT QUJALIJJUTAUJUQ

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HOLLY ANDERSEN Makkovik, Nunatsiavut, NL Every fall the temperatures start to drop. People gather some berries before it gets too cold outside. Boats are hauled up for the season until late spring. Then we wonder if our temperatures will be cold enough for the ice to “make.” There have been years where we had a bit too much snow before getting cold enough temperatures for ice to form. The February I took this photo we had a warmer than usual winter and the ice had a hard time forming. I’m not sure if it’s global warming taking a toll or if it’s just something that happens every other year, but not having the ice form early in the winter poses some challenges to hunting safely, to travelling to other communities and to getting firewood.

— Holly Andersen is a photographer from Makkovik, Nunatsiavut, NL, whose practice explores photography’s ability to capture minute details and preserve moments in time.

Qautamaat uqquusivallialiqtuq, akuniuniqsarlu ulluqaliqLuni, siqiniq uviningnut quvianaqsilluni. Nattiillu nuipallialiqLutik agluminik uqquusivallialiraangat sula, uuktunguqpakLutik sikuup qaangani suli siku aulaungitillugu. Upirngaamit quviagijaummarisuungujuq tamaani Labrador-mit, ammalu aulasaqpallialiqLuta iqalugasukLuta suli siku aulaungitillugu.

— Holly Andersen ajjiliurijiujuq Makkovikmit, Nunatsiavummit, Newfoundlandmit, ajjiliurivaktuq qanuq ajjiliurutiit ajjiliurijunnarmangaata takuvalliajanginnit.

Holly Andersen (b. 1984 Makkovik) — Slow Formation 2021 Digital photograph COURTESY THE ARTIST

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Holly Andersen (Inuulauqsimajuq 1984-ngutillugu Makkovikmit) — Sukkaittuq 2021 Qaritajakkut ajjiliuqtausimajuq AJJILIURIJIMIT QUJALIJJUTAUJUQ

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NIORE IQALUKJUAK Kangiqtugaapik, NU This photo was taken on the northern tip of Baffin Island, right across Arctic Bay on the Brodeur Peninsula.

In English this formation is called the Gallery, but in Inuktitut it's Qarlinngua. It’s a neat landscape, different, something you don’t normally see. It's quite far away, a three- to four-hour skidoo drive. Sometimes I go there specifically to take pictures, and sometimes a hunting trip gets us to that area—quite a bit of hunting is done here. The winter freeze gives us an opportunity to do more hunting; depending on ice conditions it's a bit safer when it's iced up. Whenever I’m fairly close I try to go there and take pictures.

— Niore Iqalukjuak is a photographer, hunter and community leader from Kangiqtugaapik (Clyde River), NU, whose practice focuses on documenting vibrant community scenes and Arctic landscapes.

Qaujimajunga Inuit, piluaqtumit tamakkua pularaqtiujut, tamaungarumavaktunit, taimali upirngaanguliraangat piugijauniqpaangujuq. Tamaungaraangama, takuvakpunga ajiungittunik. Upinnaqpaktuq takulluni ajjigingitanginnit takulauqtannit. Taisumanittiaq tamatuminga nunamit qangiqsilauqpugut nunuqtaqaqtillugu. Takujumagaluarivunga tamaungarlunga ukiaksaliqtillugu. Tamakkua arsarnii takuksauttiaqtillugit, ammalu ajjiliurillunga tamakkuninga aqsarninnik. Tamili siku auksimaliqtillugu, ajurnasuunguvuq ajjiliurinirmit-imaq aulalisuungungmat. Tamaungarasulauraluaqpugut ulluni maruiqsuqLuta uqsuaqtillugu.

— Niore Iqalukjuak ajjiliurijiujuq, angunasuktiullunilu ammalu nunalianit sivuliqtiulluni Kangiqtugaapikmit, Nunavutmit, ajjiliurivaktuq nunalinganit ammalu ukiuqtaqtuup nunanganit.

Niore Iqalukjuak (b. 1966 Kangiqtugaapik) — Untitled 2020 Digital photograph COURTESY THE ARTIST

Niore Iqalukjuak (Inuulauqsimajuq 1966-ngutillugu Kaniqtugaapikmit) — Taijausimangittuq 2020 Qaritajakkut ajjiliuqtausimajuq AJJILIURIJIMIT QUJALIJJUTAUJUQ

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Stay tuned for the next issue when they navigate the spring thaw.

— Qajinasungniaqpusi ajjiliuritillugit upingaangutillugu aukpallialiqtillugu.

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A QUEST FOR THE REAL

—

by John Westren

The Art of Osuitok Ipeelee

Osuitok Ipeelee’s iconic sculptures are beloved around the globe. This piece takes a look at Ipeelee’s work and examines what makes his sculptures so dynamic. From the delicate fingers and golden crown of Queen Elizabeth II, to the balanced postures of leaping caribou, Ipeelee was a master of capturing moments of stunning beauty.

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Osuitok Ipeelee (1922–2005 Kinngait) — Walking Caribou c. 1987–88 Stone and antler 60.3 × 54 × 16.5 cm COURTESY FIRST ARTS PHOTO DIETER HESSEL ALL REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS ALL © THE ARTIST

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Polar Bear with Captured Seal 1984 Stone 36.2 × 43.2 × 26.7 cm COURTESY FIRST ARTS PHOTO DIETER HESSEL

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Osuitok Ipeelee at work, 1996 REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS

Since the middle of the last century, the hamlet of Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU, has maintained a well-deserved reputation as one of this country’s leading centres of printmaking and graphic arts.

However, no less exceptional are many of the superb stone sculptures that have come from this region. One of the greatest sculptors to ever emerge from Kinngait is Osuitok Ipeelee, RCA (1922–2005), an artist who mastered the art of carving like no other.

Ipeelee was born in the late autumn of 1922 in the Neeouleeutalik camp, not far from where the hamlet of Kinngait is today. His family lived a nomadic lifestyle moving between various camps throughout Sikusilaq, “the place where the water doesn’t freeze in winter.”

Ipeelee had a happy childhood, playing games and observing the world around him with a keen eye. He was particularly intrigued by his father Ohotok’s ability to carve cribbage boards and little kayak models out of ivory tusks, which he would then sell to the sailors when the annual supply ships arrived. Ohotok taught his impressionable son the fundamentals of carving and before long Ipeelee was making little toy boats, qamutiks, animals and figures from wood salvaged from shipping crates or driftwood.

In 1935 when his father died, Ipeelee, only 13 at the time and the eldest son, assumed the role of family provider. He did well, but when the price of furs declined he took up his father’s secondary vocation and began to hone his skills as a carver of walrus tusks.

Using only rudimentary tools that he often fashioned himself from nails and broken saw blades, Ipeelee created highly detailed carvings.

One such piece was a miniature fox trap with working parts so carefully assembled it would likely be quite functional and effective if a fox happened to be the size of a bumblebee.

Ipeelee’s reputation as a talented carver spread across the region. In 1951 when Alma and James Houston, OC, were travelling along the coast of South Baffin to encourage and promote the making of fine arts and crafts they were told that the best artist around was a man named Osuitok.

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Ipeelee was impressed by the Houstons’ dedication and commitment to what he recognized could be a great opportunity not only for him but for the entire community. Their mutual admiration and respect helped forge a collaboration that was instrumental in establishing the groundwork for one of the most successful printmaking studios in the country and the beginning of one of the most astonishing art movements in the world. As the growth of Inuit art expanded, Ipeelee’s fame increased exponentially. Major galleries around the country were mounting exhibitions of this exciting new art movement and Ipeelee was often singled out for his exquisite and compelling stone carvings.

In 1959 he was commissioned to create a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her Royal Tour to Canada. This sculpture was one of his personal favourites. The full-length gown carved from green Markham Bay serpentinite gives the illusion of silk when it is contrasted with the creamy white whalebone used for the head, bust and hands. She is holding an orb in one hand with a copper ring on her fourth finger and an ornate, shiny copper crown mounted on the top of her head. The artist would have been familiar with the visage of the queen. In fact he was seeing more and more of her features passing through his hands on the currency he received from the sales of his carvings. So it is all the more remarkable that he didn’t do the obvious by aiming for a likeness of Her Majesty but instead chose to depict her as a symbol of regal dignity, power, authority and great wealth. This is a figure of a universal regent.

Ipeelee often spoke of the real. To make something look real involved more than replicating the surface appearances of a subject. It was to express an ideal. He achieved this quality in his sculptures by carving areas of animals or human figures deliberately disproportionate to emphasize the parts that give the subject energy, vitality, meaning and emotion. A simple carving of a bear tiptoeing across the ice with its head held high and a

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Osuitok Ipeelee (1922–2005 Kinngait) — Muskox c. mid 1970s Stone 31.1 × 35.6 × 19.1 cm COURTESY FIRST ARTS PHOTO DIETER HESSEL

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Kneeling Mother with Child in her Amaut 1983 Stone 64.8 × 40.6 × 25.4 cm PRIVATE COLLECTION PHOTO ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO

fearsome looking disposition successfully incorporates the stealth, ferocious and graceful characteristics of a “real” bear.

As a hunter, Ipeelee had a practical knowledge of the land and over time he developed and expanded an acute sensory awareness that actuated a superb memory. Like many other artists of his generation who were brought up on the land his early work is imbued with a spiritual presence. All of these qualities, attributes and abilities, combined with his innate aesthetic sensitivity and his skill at carving in stone, contributed to his success as a great artist.

For Ipeelee, the quest for the real would begin in the most unreal place of all—the mind. His sculptures all began as fully developed ideas. The nascent conceptions of a composition would take shape in his imagination often at night during the period of languorous bliss just before sleep when the body is fully relaxed and inhibitions and subconscious resistance subside. Over the next few days he would refine these initial thoughts into crystal clear visualizations and then he would idealize each step that would be required to fulfill its execution. The next step would be to find the perfect stone.1 When it was practical, Ipeelee would hunt for stone himself at the source. He would tap, bang, bash and drench potential rocks until he found one that was the right size, density, mass and colour for the carving he had in mind.

For the sculpture of the illusive Sea Goddess (1983), the artist chose a seaweed green, semi-transparent stone that he liked because it has a glasslike quality when polished. The softened and slightly distorted features on the face and the rhythm of the flowing braids and wavy shapes along the breadth of Sedna’s body all suggest a sculpture that is being viewed under water.

Similarly, in his 1983 carving, Kneeling Mother with Child in her Amaut, the decorative lines roughly incised on the amauti add realism to the sculpture but the contrasting tones also help to define the volumes and enhance the values. The mother and the baby in the amaut are so totally convincing we feel that we are in the presence of living and breathing individuals that we might have met at some time in the distant past.

Balance was another element that preoccupied Ipeelee and set him apart from so many others. He said, “To me, that’s the most important part—the most important thing in carving—the balance.

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You have to really know how it’s going to work; if you don’t you are going to end up with a problem.”2 In his 1972 piece, Spirits, Ipeelee solved that problem with eclat.

This carving has not only a physical balance to maintain stability but a visual equilibrium between various animal spirits merging and coalescing in a cosmic dance of form and dissolution.

Ipeelee once said, “When you’re looking at a real bird and they don’t know you are looking at them, sometimes they do the weirdest things with themselves.”3 One such example, a carving of a Hawk on one Leg (1968), precariously balanced on a whalebone base the size of a jar stopper seems to completely defy gravity. Viewing this sculpture brings about the same exhilarating unease one feels while watching an acrobat or a high-wire circus act. It should be impossible. But Ipeelee enjoyed doing the impossible.

More than any other artist, Ipeelee knew how to confidently push serpentinite stone to its ultimate limits. Possibly the greatest example of this skillfully daring bravado is a piece that very few people have ever seen. It is a large beautiful carving of a standing caribou on ultra-thin legs and elongated body suckling a calf of similar proportions. The West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative (WBEC) bought it without hesitation, but it was considered so delicate that no one dared to pack it for shipping down to the Toronto office.

One employee even suggested they should strategically pre-break the sculpture so that the four or five separate pieces could be reassembled by a master restorer when it reached its destination.

By default it became part of the WBEC permanent collection and remains locked in a cupboard, out of sight but safe.

On the opposite extreme is a carving of an Owl Transformation (1982) that is so simple it is almost Minimalist. It is a carving about boundaries. The most interesting things happen at boundaries— the boundaries of land and sea, mountain and valley, earth and sky. This carving includes the boundaries of solid and indistinct and the physical and spiritual while the subject is simultaneously hanging on and letting go at the boundary point precisely halfway between man and owl.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The great iconic photographs of our times like Marilyn Monroe standing over the subway grate, the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster or the tank

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Osuitok Ipeelie (b. 1922 Kinngait) — Spirits 1972 Stone Dimensions TK COURTESY FEHELEY FINE ARTS

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This sculpture represents the highest potential of both the caribou and the artist.

To accomplish these sculptures Ipeelee put his full self into the work. He could not abide any distractions or trivial interruptions otherwise the whole carving could be lost.

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PREVIOUS

Osuitok Ipeelee (1922–2005 Kinngait) — Caribou 1982 Stone and caribou antler 44.4 × 56.5 × 26.6 cm

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Hawk on one Leg 1968 Stone and bone 48.3 × 38.1 × 6.4 cm COURTESY OF WADDINGTON'S AUCTIONEERS AND APPRAISERS, TORONTO

COURTESY MARION SCOTT GALLERY

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Osuitok Ipeelee (1922–2005 Kinngait) — Resting Caribou c. 1988–89 Stone and antler 21 × 27.3 × 5.1 CM COURTESY FIRST ARTS PHOTO DIETER HESSEL

man in Tiananmen Square all record a precise instant in time that can never be repeated, when our emotional response is heightened or that rare moment when anything is possible.

Ipeelee often obtains that same instance of suspended excitement in his sculptures. Many of them are snapshots frozen in stone.

The triumphant Fisherwoman (1963) suddenly rises from a kneeling position with her kakivak and fish held aloft and is perfectly balanced by her other outstretched hand. The top half of the body is expansive in size and expression leading to a billowing hood that serves to frame a face that is caught in that instance just as amazement becomes exultation.

The same is true of a Leaping Caribou (1976) frozen in time just before lift-off. Caribou can run up to 80 kilometres an hour.

A healthy caribou can jump over six feet high if it needs to. This elegant, strong and beautifully shaped tuktu is at the height of its prime. With its neck arched and limbs coiled and ready to spring forward, this sculpture represents the highest potential of both the caribou and the artist. To accomplish these sculptures Ipeelee put his full self into the work. He could not abide any distractions or trivial interruptions otherwise the whole carving could be lost.

Ipeelee’s sculptures, which encompass an extraordinary range of diverse works, are represented in all of the major museums and galleries in Canada as well as in several prominent institutions overseas and in the homes of eminent collectors around the world.

Along with his many caribou, standing, walking, running, rearing, scratching and resting, there is an entire Arctic menagerie, dramatic encounters between men and walrus and bears and seals, beautiful women carved with tenderness and devotion, marble pillars of exquisite simplicity and refinement, legends and transformations and quirky oddities such as a driftwood spirit and an amauti transforming into a harpoon head.

In his later years when his motor skills began to decline, his caribou were all carved in resting positions but Ipeelee continued to carve until the end. His final carvings were like stone sketches, perhaps resembling the simplicity of the wooden toys he carved 70 years earlier.

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Ipeelee received many accolades and awards in his lifetime.

The words gentle, kind, stoic, graceful, dignified, strong and courageous have been used to describe him. Terry Ryan, OC former General Manager of Kinngait Studios and a man who was well acquainted with the art scene, once asserted that Osuitok Ipeelee was the best sculptor not just in the Eastern Arctic but in the whole country. And Jimmy Manning, long-time Studio Manager at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-op, said, “It was very hard for anyone to copy him.”

There are many people who are qualified and would be willing offer a succinct summary of Osuitok’s life but I think the last word should come from the artist himself, who said with earnest intention when he was a young man: “I’m going to stand on my own two feet and I’m going to try and have the best life as I can and I’m going to be happy with my life.”

— John Westren is the manager of Dorset Fine Arts, the Toronto marketing office of Kinngait Studios. He has worked for the Studios on behalf of Kinngait artists for over 35 years. Westren has also written a number of essays about Inuit art for various publications and anthologies including Cape Dorset: A Print Retrospective, Tuvaq and Annie e le Altre.

NOTES

1

Sharon Van Raalte, “Interview with Osuitok.” Interview by Sharon Van Raalte, trans. Maata, (May 1985): 33, 49.

2

Jean Blodgett, “Osuitok Ipeelee.” Inuit Art: An Anthology, trans. Letia Parr, Jimmy Manning, (Winnipeg, 1989): 50.

3

Sharon Van Raalte, “Interview with Osuitok.” Interview by Sharon Van Raalte, trans. Maata, (May 1985): 45.

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—

by Andrew Qappik and David Cochrane, as told to the IAQ

Weaving a Dream In 2010 the tapestry Achieving a Dream (2009) graced the walls of the Richmond Olympic Oval for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Behind its captivating presence is a story of the dedicated and skilled artists who created the piece. In this Legacy, the IAQ speaks with artists Andrew Qappik, CM, of Panniqtuuq (Pangnirtung), NU, and David Cochrane of Scotland to weave together the tale of those who helped make the dream of an Olympic tapestry a reality.

The weaving of tapestry is a detailed artistic practice, one that requires intricacy, commitment and physical effort. Tapestries combine beautiful imagery, storytelling and a range of colour palettes, calling us to reach out and touch them. It is no wonder that Inuit tapestries are highly sought after, especially those from renowned weaving studios such as the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio, located in the Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts & Crafts in Panniqtuuq (Pangnirtung), NU. The studio produces a range of woven pieces, such as scarves, blankets and rugs, but it is their tapestries, both commissioned and editioned, that draw particular attention. This special place of creation and the interest in the talented works of its weavers led to the studio being commissioned to weave a tapestry for a historical moment in time—the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games launched the Vancouver 2010 Venues’ Aboriginal Art Program, which was “designed to celebrate the spirit of the nation by promoting understanding of the rich cultures and traditions of the [Indigenous] peoples in Canada.”1 Through this program, the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio received $100,000 from VANOC, in collaboration with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK),

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Kawtysie Kakee weaving the tapestry at the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio, 2009 ALL COURTESY DAVID COCHRANE

OPPOSITE RIGHT

David Cochrane leaves a Dovecot Studios badge on his last day at the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio, 2009 OPPOSITE BELOW

Achieving a Dream begins to take shape at the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio, 2009

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to create the six-by-ten-foot woven piece. The tapestry was one of five permanent artworks that would be unveiled at the Winter Games in February 2010. 2 With the piece commissioned and the start of the Winter Games looming in the distance, a new question emerged: What will the design be? This was important, as it needed to combine Olympic thematic elements with Inuit imagery and perspectives. In stepped Andrew Qappik, CM, a skilled graphic and print artist from Panniqtuuq, to create the design that would eventually become the Olympic tapestry.

Qappik combined the works of four Inuit artists— Dinah Anderson of Nunatsiavut, Sammy J. Kudluk of Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC, and Mabel Nigiyok and Louie Nigiyok of Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT. The creative team was chosen through an adjudication process to represent each Inuit region. 3 Qappik says it was a “privilege to create a work of different artists put together into one tapestry.”4 But the creation didn’t stop there; it needed to embody an Olympic feel. This resulted in the interworking of images of athletes performing a variety of sports, from speed skating and ski jumping to hockey and the high jump. “I put in the sorts of sports [seen at the Olympics], scenes of traditional games and landscapes from different regions of Canada— of the North,” says Qappik. The hockey player on the right side of the tapestry had a special meaning for the artist. “At that time we had an Inuit hockey player who’s from Rankin Inlet: Jordin Tootoo. I put the Inuit hockey player there for the Canadian team,” he says.

With the design set, the weavers of the studio stepped in. The artists included Oolassie Akulukjuk,

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Kawtysie Kakee, Leesee Kakee, Anna Etuangat and Kathy Battye. Two additional weavers assisted with the process; one was Deborah Hickman from Mahone Bay, NS, a weaver and artistic adviser to the Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts & Crafts. The other was David Cochrane, a weaver from Scotland who was approached by Hickman.

Cochrane was invited to Panniqtuuq for six weeks to work on the tapestry. He jumped at the chance to be involved in the project. “Coming from Scotland, the language barrier was overcome partly with Deborah’s grasp and use of Inuktitut and conversely Elena Akpalialuk’s knowledge of English, coupled with my own observations in learning body language and our joint common language of tapestry weaving— our craft,” says Cochrane. 5 In creating a tapestry, “wool or cotton fibre (weft) is woven (beaten down with a hand-held wooden bobbin) in and out between tensioned cotton string (warp), building up in steps to depict the image,” says Cochrane. But before the weavers could begin their work in earnest, the design needed to be “enlarged with an overhead projector and I had to help them.

Some of the words had to be drawn onto the paper.

That was a blueprint for the weavers,” Qappik says.

The artists began by dressing the loom with cotton warp threads that are designed to be sturdy and able to withstand the rigours of weaving. Of the thread that was used for the tapestry, Cochrane says, “The wool supplied by Harrisville Designs Inc., a U.S. company,

Oolassie Akulukjuk and Kawtysie Kakee work together on the tapestry at the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio, 2009 COURTESY DAVID COCHRANE

OPPOSITE

Oolassie Akulukjuk, Dinah Anderson, Kathy Battye, Anna Etuangat, Leesee Kakee, Kawtysie Kakee, Sammy Kudluk, Louie Nigiyok, Mabel Nigiyok and Andrew Qappik with support from David Cochrane and Deborah Hickman — Achieving a Dream 2009 Wool 68 × 118.5 cm PHOTO DAVID KILABUK © THE ARTISTS

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a mix between Australian and New Zealand wool, was a perfect weaving wool—new and refreshing.” Once the loom was dressed, the weavers then placed Qappik’s composite design behind the loom and transferred the image to the threads using permanent marker. Working together as a team took patience, collaboration and dedication. Of working with the Uqqurmiut weavers, Cochrane says they “smiled and laughed a lot and made me feel very welcome. Their hands were always in motion, be it weaving or winding and crocheting during tea breaks—productive and happy.”

In the end, it took the team of seven weavers 2,030 hours to complete the tapestry, working during the day and sometimes long into the evenings throughout the summer of 2009 to complete it on time. The result is a winter scene that comes alive with a range of bright colours and lively depictions of Inuit and non-Inuit, threaded together to tell a story. Beyond the individuals engaging in sports activities is an inuksuk in the distance amongst snow-covered hills and an iglu situated right in the centre of a scene of Inuit playing traditional games. Satisfied with their creation, the weavers cut the tapestry off the loom and shipped it off to its final destination—Achieving a Dream was now on route to Vancouver, BC. In February 2010 the tapestry was unveiled at the Richmond Olympic Oval. It hung for the duration of the 2010 Winter Games and is now a permanent fixture at the location. On seeing the final piece, Qappik says, “It’s a complex compilation of different regions, sports and landscapes. It turned out really well.” For Cochrane, the piece would not be what it is without the talented weaving of the Pangnirtung Tapestry Studio weavers and the design work of Qappik, “who fused a lineage of Inuit culture and knowledge in a contemporary tapestry, using his imagination and skill in the production of prints.”

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NOTES

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1

“First Vancouver 2010 Indoor Competition Venue Completed,” Office of the Premier, VANOC, July 7, 2008, archive.news.gov.bc.ca/releases/news_ releases_2005-2009/2008otp0176-001049.htm.

2

“Canada Celebrates the Talent of Aboriginal Artists at 2010 Olympic Venues,” Government of Canada, October 16, 2009, canada.ca/en/news/archive/ 2009/10/canada-celebrates-talent-aboriginal-artists2010-olympic-venues.html.

3

“Tapestry Commissions,” Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts & Crafts, accessed September 8, 2021, uqqurmiut.ca/ TapComm1.html.

4

All quotes from Andrew Qappik, interview with Lisa Frenette (Associate Editor, IAF), September 2021.

5

All quotes from David Cochrane, interview with Lisa Frenette (Associate Editor, IAF), September 2021.

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TRIBUTE

Harry Egotak

BELOW

Harry Egotak working on Helen Kalvak’s work Plucking the Duck, released in the 1982 print edition, 1981 PHOTO BERNADETTE DRISCOLL ENGELSTAD

by Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad

For almost twenty-five years, Harry Egotak (1925–2009) worked in a quiet corner of the Holman Art Shop in Ulukhaktok, Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT. He was a stalwart presence among the small, tightly knit corps of printmakers who transformed pencil, ink and felt-pen drawings—their own drawings as well as those of fellow artists—into a formidable collection of stonecut, stencil, lithograph and woodcut prints.

Established in 1962, the Holman Eskimo Co-operative in Ulukhaktok holds a special position in the history of Inuit art, recording the stories, lifeways, mythology and creative memories of Inuinnait and Inuvialuit artists whose ancestors had developed two distinct Inuit Art Quarterly

cultural traditions long separated by geographic distance. Nomadic caribou and seal hunters, the Inuinnait inhabited Kitlineq (Victoria Island), hunting seasonally on Banks Island. In the early twentieth century, Natkusiak, or Billy Banksland (1885–1947)— guide to Vilhjalmur Stefansson—and Danish trader Christian Klengenberg moved from the Inuvialuit whaling region of the Mackenzie Delta and coastal Alaska to become successful trappers and traders in the Kitlineq region; their families settled in the Holman area in the early 1930s.

A core group of Inuinnait and Inuvialuit hunters, including Egotak, Jimmy Memorana (1919–2009), Alec Aliknak Banksland 60

(1928–1998) and Victor Ekootak (1916–1965), worked with Oblate missionary Father Henri Tardy to form the Holman Eskimo Co-operative in 1961, establishing an experimental printmaking program and craft shop for accomplished seamstresses to create sealskin tapestries and stenciled fabric crafts. As Father Tardy recalled, working closely together, families were able to overcome differences in dialect, cultural traditions and religion that might otherwise have separated the community.

As a founding member of the Art Shop, Egotak’s early drawings reflect his life as a young Inuinnaq hunter. Several drawings, including Two Men Hunting a Bear (1962), were printed as sealskin stencils in the initial phase of the printmaking program. Caribou Hunt from Kayak (1965) features two hunters in pursuit of a swimming caribou and was released as a stonecut print in the inaugural 1965 Holman print collection. Egotak’s talent as a graphic artist is evident in the striking print Cranes (1975), which captures the flamboyant dance of a trio of sandhill cranes, each attempting to outperform the other. Printed as a stonecut relief in black ink, a bright-red cap marks the forehead of each figure further animating the image. Only two additional drawings by Egotak were released as prints—Hunting the Muskox (1966) and The Old Woman (1980)—underscoring his primary contribution as a dedicated printmaker rather than graphic artist.

As a master stonecut printer, Egotak adeptly translated the drawings of both Inuinnait and Inuvialuit artists, particularly those of Helen Kalvak, CM, RCA (1901–1984) and Agnes Nanogak Goose (1925–2001). Joined by fellow printmakers Jimmy Memorana and Joseph Kitekudlak, Egotak skillfully inverted positive and negative space, transforming the simple pencil outlines typically used by the artists into images of solid form. Prior to the Art Shop’s adoption of lithography in the early 1980s, only three images by Kalvak—described as copperplate etchings—reflect the artist’s original drawing style. In the print Women Clothes (1975)

by Mark Emerak (1901–1983), Egotak highlights the artist’s thin pencil line against a rich ochre background, exploiting the irregular shape of the stone block to frame the image.

Although the graphic artists of Ulukhaktok created thousands of drawings, only a small fraction have been released in the annual print collections. Transforming almost 1,200 pencil and Winter 2021

TRIBUTE

LEFT

Harry Egotak (1925–2009 Ulukhaktok) — Cranes 1975 Printmaker Harry Egotak Stonecut and stencil 50.8 × 76.2 cm COURTESY WADDINGTON'S AUCTIONEERS AND APPRAISERS, TORONTO

BELOW

Agnes Nanogak (1925–2001 Ulukhaktok) — Dream 1968 Printmaker Harry Egotak Stonecut 45.7 × 61 cm COURTESY MADRONA GALLERY

felt-pen drawings into prints, the printmakers of the Holman Art Shop have preserved a rich legacy of Inuinnait and Inuvialuit mythology and cultural traditions, including hunting, games, dance and shamanistic practice. With a keen appreciation for differences in artistic styles, Egotak has made an invaluable contribution to this effort, creating almost 200 stonecut prints of drawings by Kalvak, Nanogak Goose, Ekootak, Mona Ohoveluk Kuneyuna (1935– 1992), Emerak, Aliknak Banksland and others—as well as nine delightful prints by his mother, artist Flossie Papidluk (1904–1994).

Egotak’s skillful contribution as a mentor is clearly evident in several stonecut prints created by Louie Nigiyok for the Kalvak/Emerak Memorial Portfolio and notable in their pivotal collaboration on the abstract image, The Great Whirlpool (Kalaniyaaktok) (1987). As new artist/printmakers joined the Art Shop in the early 1980s, Mary K. Okheena recalls Egotak’s patience and encouragement in sharing his expertise: “Harry would always help me with stencils … He never criticized if I did something wrong. He would just show you a better way to do something. He used to say, ‘Never say: I can’t do this.’ Keep trying. You can do this.”¹

NOTE

1 Darlene Coward Wight, Holman: Forty Years of Graphic Art. The Winnipeg Art Gallery (2001), pp. 81-82.

— As curator of Inuit art at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (1979–1985), Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad worked with Inuit sculptors, graphic artists and printmakers in their home communities in the preparation of numerous exhibitions, including The Inuit Amautik: I like my hood to be full, Inuit Myths, Legends and Songs, Baker Lake Prints and Print Drawings, Arviat/ Eskimo Point and Rankin Inlet/Kangirlliniq. With Winnipeg-based artist David Umholtz, she worked with the artists of the Holman Art Shop as a curatorial advisor in the production of the Kalvak/Emerak Memorial Portfolio (1987), a commemorative tribute to Ulukhaktok artists Helen Kalvak, CM, RCA and Mark Emerak, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Government of the Northwest Territories.

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CURATORIAL NOTES

ᓴᕐᖀᒋᐊᓪᓚᓂᖅ: ᐸᑎᒃᑎᒐᓕᐅᕐᓂᖅ ᓄᓇᕕᒻᒥ

(2014–2019) | Sarqiigiallaniq: Patiktigaliurniq Nunavimmi (2014–2019) | Resurgence: Printmaking in Nunavik (2014–2019) Musée d’art de Joliette OCTOBER 2, 2021–JANUARY 9, 2022 JOLIETTE, QC

by Lyne Bastien with Maggie Napartuk and Qumaq M. Iyaituk

Revival: Printmaking in Nunavik 2014–2019, presented in collaboration with the Biennale internationale d’estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières, brings together a selection of 60 linocut prints created as part of travelling workshops offered in ten communities across Nunavik, QC: Ivujivik, Inukjuak, Quaqtaq, Salluit, Kangiqsujuaq, Kuujjuaq, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Kangirsuk and Tasiujuak.

Co-curated by Maggie Napartuk, Qumaq M. Iyaituk and myself, the show features prints by 26 artists, created between 2014 and 2019, that highlight Inuit culture in a wide range of forms: through stories and legends, animals and artifacts, reflecting both past and present life in the North.

Inuit Art Quarterly

In 1961 in Puvirnituq, Nunavik, QC, artists, including Joe Talirunili (1906–1976), Josie Papialuk (1918–1996) and Juanasialuk Irqumia (1917–1977), among others, began experimenting with stonecut printing.

Throughout the ’60s and ’70s especially, the Puvirnituq Co-operative studio produced a number of exceptional prints that distinguish themselves from the works of other northern studios by their coarseness, the irregularity of the edges and scratches and imperfections that are a part of the image. Simply and without artifice, these works evoke animals and scenes from a nomadic existence.

Unfortunately, different factors, including the precariousness of the art market, 62

jeopardized the production of prints in the region. Towards the end of the 1980s, the studio abruptly ended its operations.

Nearly a quarter of a century later in 2014 I moved to the hamlet of Puvirnituq, inspired to honour and learn more about the rich history of print in the region. I was giving a printmaking workshop in the community and met Napartuk, granddaughter of the Kuujjuarapik sculptor and printmaker Henry Napartuk (1932–1985). I invited her to attend my workshop where she produced three linocut prints. This was the beginning of what would become a rich adventure.

In the years since this initial workshop, I have been fortunate to work with a small Winter 2021

CURATORIAL NOTES group of committed artists who have created several major projects in linocut, including Convergence North/South (2018), a collaborative project with Iyaituk, Passa Mangiuk and Mary Paningayak; and I have been honoured to offer printmaking workshops across Nunavik, made possible with the support of Kativik Ilisarniliriniq and the Kativik Regional Government. I was often accompanied by Napartuk who worked extensively on her own prints while also offering assistance to workshop participants.

Since 2019 Napartuk has been giving linocut printing workshops in Nunavik single-handedly.

Sixty years after the first experiments in printmaking in Puvirnituq, Inuit artists’ loyalty to their unique creative visions and to their values remains clear. Despite access to southern Canadian centres, influences and ideas, the majority of images created as part of the workshops evoke Inuit traditions and customs, bearing witness to a deeply felt connection to culture and history.

When I met with Napartuk and Iyaituk in Ivujivik in February 2021 as co-curators, they reiterated the importance of the storytelling, customs and traditions in the prints throughout the selection process.

This led, in turn, to a selection of works that are meaningful in their strong links to history while offering a contemporary view of Inuit life.

Salluit artist Louisa Pauyungie is interested in legends that illustrate the close relationship between Inuit and their territory.

The woman transforming into a wolf in Woman Transforms Into a Wolf (2017) is presented in a manner that recalls the expressive and coarse approach found in early Puvirnituq prints, as does Ivujivik artist Passa Mangiuk’s work that presents scenes from daily life, such as her bold image Inuk Eating Raw Meat (2017).

Unlike Pauyungie and Mangiuk, Kuujjuaq artist Jessie Koneak Jones’ prints, such as Half Human, Half Fish (2017) or Fishing too (2017), are rendered in a detailed realism. Both works by Koneak Jones depict a shared way of life between Inuit women and surrounding sea life.

Lucasi Iyaituk, from Puvirnituq, was the youngest participant.

He is the proud grandson of sculptor Mattiusi Iyaituk and Qumaq M. Iyaituk. He has great respect for his Elders’ values and traditions but focuses on Inuit youth—their preoccupations and challenges.

In iPhone (2019), the device occupies the entire picture plane,

OPPOSITE

Louisa Pauyungie (b. 1966 Salluit) — Woman Transforms Into a Wolf 2017 Linocut 10.16 × 15.24 cm COURTESY AVATAQ CULTURAL INSTITUTE PHOTO MARIE-CHRISTINE COUTURE

ABOVE

Jessie Koneak Jones (b. 1955 Kuujjuaq) — Half Human, Half Fish 2017 Linocut 15.24 × 10.16 cm COURTESY AVATAQ CULTURAL INSTITUTE PHOTO MARIE-CHRISTINE COUTURE

RIGHT

View of opening of the exhibition Revival: Printmaking in Nunavik (2014–2019) at the Musée d’art de Joliette on October 2, 2021, featuring a 1962 stonecut by Davidialuk Alasua Amittu, Untitled.

PHOTO ROMAIN GUILBAULT

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CURATORIAL NOTES

inside of which Inuit elements are represented: an iglu, an ulu and a harpoon. What could be read as the bottom of a qamutik becomes a ladder where hands gripping blades evoke the presence of violence.

Some of the prints in the exhibition present an artifact isolated from its habitual context, revealing it in a previously unseen manner, such as Napartuk’s Snow Goggles With an Arctic Tern on It (2017), traditionally carved in caribou bone or walrus tusk. These take over the entire picture space that Napartuk has carved, simply and elegantly, casting this cultural icon in striking effect.

The same can be said about the prints of Lisi Maggie Thomassie, from Kangirsuk. A print depicting a branch mattress, habitually seen in an iglu or tent, is shown in a straight-forward, frontal manner. It transforms, especially for non-Inuit viewers, into an abstract form, evoking a natural element.

As co-curators for the exhibition, we have selected a body of linocut prints that bridge the gap between the first foundational explorations of printmaking in Puvirnituq years ago and what we feel is a strong representation of creative expression in contemporary printmaking in Nunavik. For many of the artists featured, printmaking is a new artistic adventure. It is our hope that these talented artists will continue to be inspired by the rich art history of their region and be supported in their pursuits by organizations that can facilitate the production and distribution of their prints to collectors and Inuit art lovers the world over. Following its presentation in Joliette, Revival is scheduled to travel to selected Nunavik communities—we look forward to sharing these unique works in the years to come.

— Artist and facilitator Lyne Bastien has a Master’s in visual arts from Concordia University, where she also taught. In her work, Bastien explores various forms of expression, from engraving to drawing and painting.

From 2014 to 2021, she lived mainly in Nunavik, QC, first in Puvirnituq, then in Ivujivik, where she accompanied artists from the region in the production of engravings and drawings. She has also taken part in many solo and group exhibitions. Her works have been acquired by BNP Paribas, the Cirque du Soleil and Loto-Québec, among others.

Born in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, QC and based in Inukjuak, Nunavik, QC, Maggie Napartuk adopted lino printing as a mode of expression in 2014, after having participated in a workshop in Puvirnituq, Nunavik, QC. Napartuk’s detailed linocut prints reflect the vigour of Inuit traditions and celebrate the relationship between the land and its people. The artist now conducts touring workshops in lino printmaking offered by the Kativik Ilisarnilitriniq school board throughout the communities of Nunavik.

ABOVE

Maggie Napartuk (b. 1981 Inukjuak) — Snow Goggles With an Arctic Tern on It 2017 Linocut 15.24 × 30.48 cm COURTESY AVATAQ CULTURAL INSTITUTE PHOTO MARIE-CHRISTINE COUTURE

Ivujivik, Nunavik, QC-based Qumaq M. Iyaituk is passionately interested in traditional storytelling and stories of Inuit life. From 2010 to 2015, a grant from the Nunavik program for culture and the arts enabled her to develop workshops on the creation of handcrafted books illustrating tales in watercolour that she gave out in many communities in Nunavik, as well as in Montreal, QC, Winnipeg, MB and Paris, France. Iyaituk’s work has been exhibited at Feheley Fine Arts gallery in Toronto, ON and the Papier art fair in Montreal.

BELOW

Lucasi Iyaituk (b. 2000 Puvirnituq) — iPhone 2019 Linocut 15.24 × 10.16 cm COURTESY AVATAQ CULTURAL INSTITUTE PHOTO MARIE-CHRISTINE COUTURE

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SOUNDINGS:

AN EXHIBITION IN FIVE PARTS Curated by Candice Hopkins and Dylan Robinson

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ᑕᕐᕿᑕᒫᑦ tarqitamaat.ca artist of the month of november Akinisie Sivuarapik photo credit: Robert Fréchette

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NEWS

Updates and highlights from the world of Inuit art and culture

LEFT

BELOW

Taqqut Productions and Kingulliit Productions Inc. — Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman’s Apprentice (still) 2021 Film 21 min

Tarralik Duffy (b. 1979 Salliq) — RUUSI 2021 Digital illustration Dimensions variable COURTESY THE ARTIST

COURTESY ISUMA DISTRIBUTION INTERNATIONAL

Zacharias Kunuk’s Angakusajaujuq Wins Best Canadian Short Film at TIFF Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman’s Apprentice (2021) was announced as the winner of the IMDBPro Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film at the 46th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This award automatically qualifies Angakusajaujuq to be considered for an Academy Award nomination.

The stop-motion animated film is a co-production between Taqqut Productions and Kingulliit Productions Inc., directed

by Zacharias Kunuk OC, ON. The film is an adaptation of a traditional Inuit story from the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut.

Lucy Tulugarjuk plays a young shaman apprenticing under her grandmother (voiced by Madeline Ivalu) who must face her fear with a trip underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, in an effort to save a young hunter who has fallen ill.

In its programming, TIFF described the film as “an astonishingly intricate and mesmerizing stop-motion marvel.” The 21-minute production also features the voice of Jacky Qrunngut as the young hunter and music by Beatrice Deer.

This announcement comes on the heels of Angakusajaujuq winning the prestigious FIPRESCI Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France this past July.

Earlier in June, the book adaptation published

by Inhabit Media, The Shaman’s Apprentice (illustrated by Megan Kyak-Monteith), won the Indigenous Voices Award for work in an Indigenous Language.

Tarralik Duffy Wins 2021 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award

Nunatsiavut Artist Jason Sikoak Designs Coin for the Royal Canadian Mint

The Inuit Art Foundation is thrilled to announce that multimedia artist Tarralik Duffy has won the 2021 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award, a biennial prize celebrating established mid-career Inuit artists.

Duffy was named winner of the $10,000 award at a virtual ceremony hosted on September 8 by the IAF’s Board President, Dr. Heather Igloliorte. The event was opened

by Elder Asenath Kannutaq and featured a performance by Juno Award–winning musicians Silla and Rise.

For the first time, a shortlist of three additional artists was also selected, each of whom received $3,000 to support their practices. The 2021 shortlisted artists are Eldred Allen, Kablusiak and Couzyn van Heuvelen. The finalists and winner were selected by an all-Inuit jury comprising independent curator and writer Jocelyn Piirainen, journalist Ossie Michelin and artist and curator Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, who won the inaugural award in 2018.

Duffy will be the first winner of the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award to receive a solo exhibition, exhibition catalogue and residency at the WAG-Qaumajuq in Winnipeg, MB, thanks to a new partnership between the art museum and the IAF. The WAG-Qaumajuq will also acquire one of Duffy’s works into its permanent collection.

Duffy’s solo exhibition is scheduled for fall 2023, when the next Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award winner will be announced.

In 1999, when Nunavut was officially named Canada’s newest territory, the Royal Canadian Mint marked the occasion with a commemorative two-dollar coin, designed by Germaine Arnaktauyok, featuring a drum-dancer with their body in relief, encircling a map of Nunavut and a quilliq.

Nunatsiavut artist Jason Sikoak recalls holding that toonie in their hand and thinking that someday they might design a coin like Arnaktauyok—though they never believed they would ever have the opportunity. Twenty-one years later, with that dream still in the back of their mind, Sikoak received a call from the Royal Canadian Mint, which had been referred

by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, asking them to submit an original design for a contest.

Although they initially thought it was a prank, Sikoak, who is wrapping up their Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Concordia University in Montreal, QC, quickly realized that it was a genuine invitation and submitted their proposed drawing. A few weeks later, Sikoak’s illustration of the sea goddess Sedna was chosen to represent the first coin in the Mint’s new Generations commemorative series, which is intended to share Indigenous legends and stories.

A limited edition of 5,000 coins has now been released.

Want More Inuit Art News?

Learn about the two Inuit writers nominated for 2021 Governor General’s Literary Awards Read the behind-the-scenes IAQ interview with Jason Sikoak about the inspiration for their coin design GENERATIONS: INUIT NUNANGAT COMMEMORATIVE SILVER COIN (2021) COURTESY ROYAL CANADIAN MINT

Get all the news, faster at: inuitartfoundation.org/news Inuit Art Quarterly

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Pauojoungie Saggiak, Untitled, 2021

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I was inspired to carve “Forgiveness” when what truly happened to Indigenous peoples of Canada became public knowledge. I have many friends and family who were and are affected directly by these tragedies.

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LAST LOOK

Itee Pootoogook Two Seasons

Itee Pootoogook (1951–2014 Kinngait) — Two Seasons 2008 Lithograph 27.9 × 83.8 cm REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION DORSET FINE ARTS © THE ARTIST

Inuit Art Quarterly

Using broad swaths of carefully rendered colour, Itee Pootoogook (1951–2014) captures the beauty and stillness that is gained by observing the shifts and rhythm of the land over time. What can this land tell you, if you choose to listen? Will you bear witness?

Pootoogook often used photographs as a starting point for his work, which led to his detailed and honest documentation of the people, architecture and landscape of Kinngait (Cape Dorset), NU. This diptych contemplates the land in two seasons, using colour to reveal the different qualities of light as the earth makes its way around the sun. In the summer, yellow ochre and chartreuse fill the frame but for two distant mountains, subtly hinting at the separation of land, water and sky.

Contrasting this dreamy scene is the crisp atmosphere of winter, where baby blue and cool white sharply meet to indicate the floe edge.

The decision to pair these two compositions into a single print invites a durational element to the image. Pootoogook’s implication of the passage of time allows the viewer to contemplate the transformative nature of the land in a way that is central to the Inuit way of seeing the world.

LEANNE INUARAK-DALL

Contributing Editor

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Winter 2021

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Amplifying Indigenous voices from across Canada through the TD Art Collection Image Credit: miigwech, miigwech, miigwech, 2021, 10/0 glass beads, thread, 30 x 19.5 x 2.5 cm, TD Bank Corporate Art Collection, Image courtesy of WAAP Vancouver 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 trademarks are the property of the Toronto-Domion Bank or its subsidiaries.