Japanese Artis ts On Inuit Printmaking

16 Pages·2009·2.7 MB·English

Q .-U A R T E R L Y
SPRING 1986 VOL. l, NO. l
with a bucketful of water beside them, they
Japanese Artis ts On
simply create the work. Sometimes they sit
out in the open fields to do this. Nobody
taught them how to make stone carvings;
Inuit Printmaking they simply followed their mvn sense of
what was technically possible and artisti
cally appropriate.
Challenge and Response In contrast, the idea of printmaking and
its techniques was introdu ced to the Inuit
by James Houston around 1957. In his
L ast fall, IAQ asked Japanese woodcut has conducted a workshop in Dorset. book Eskimo Prints (Barre Publishers ,
artist Naoko Matsubara to review the Sawai takes a more moderate stance, argu Barre, Massachusetts , 1967), Houston has
Cape Dorset 1985 graphics collection. ing that while it is preferable to involve the described clearly how it all came about.
Going beyond a conventional review, Mat artist f ram conception to completed edi Two interesting facts emerge about this pi
subara submitted a critical commentary on tion, the collective production of prints oneering period of primmaking in the
the methods of production in the Cape can have a p'-ace in a transitional society. Arctic: First, the volunteer sculpt ors
Dorset print shop. Since all Inuit print Terry Ryan, longtime art advisor to the searched locally for the right materials for
shops employ the same procedures, she is Cape Dorset co-op, has been asked to re this new medium, and they themselves
raising questions concerning Inuit print spond in the next issue. This is a provoca experimented with various ways to do the
making in general. Matsubara draws a pa tive subject and one on which many of our printing after they had made the plates.
rallel between the ukiyo-e system of readers will have strong opinions. Houston tells us how difficult it was to
printmaking in japan and what she refers print with ink made of soot and seal fat: it
to as "assemb ly-line" production in froze in the unheated huts and often pro
Dorset. In Japan, she says, this method of Naoko Matsubara duced uneven, patchy prints. Secondly,
printmahing has been replaced with the Houston went to Japan in 1958 to study
sosaku hanga method, in which artists The Inuit approach to sculptur e has al woodcut methods with the noted artist,
print their own editions. Since this issue ways been very direct. They dig out the Un-Ichi Hiratsuka . He brought back his
has not, we believe, been addressed with stone themselves, or hunt animals for their new knowledge of Japan ese printmaking
reference to Inuit printmaking, IAQ re tusks, amlers and bones. They then carve and, also, Japanese paper, handmade from
quested a response from Noboru Sawai, a these raw materials into sculpture s, using natural fibre, the kind that is still being
Japanese artist who teaches at the Univer the crudest of tools and no preliminary used in Cape Dorset.
sity of Calgary and who, like Matsubara, sketches or clay models. Sitting at home These details are significant. From a
Japanese point of view, the approac h of
the Inuit to printmaking during the for
mative period can be classified as sosahu
hanga or, as it has been loosely translated,
"creative woodcut." I assume that, after re
turning from Japan, Houston switched to
assembly-line methods reminiscent of the
IN THIS ISSUE ...
PEOPLE & PLACES
5
UPDATE
8
REVIEWS
JO
CALENDAR
13
Worhing in the print shop at Cape Dorset. Photo:]. Manning
SPRING 1986 INUIT ART QUARTERLY I
..
lnuitA1t Editorial self-sufficiency has already Japanese Printmaking continued
....
been ensured through an independent
board of directors with impressive back commercial ukiyo-e prints against which
-,.~ - ~~-~~· grnunds in art and publishing: Michael the sosaku hanga artists had rebelled .
Bell (director, The McMichael Canad ian From the late 17th to the early 20th cen
Volume ],'Number 1 Collection) , Helga Goetz (head, Inuit tury, ukiyo-e prints ("pictures of the float
Spring 1986 Art Section, Indian and Northern Affairs mg world") were made in Japan in a
Canada), Avrom Isaacs (owner of The similar, collective operation, involving the
Isaacs Gallery and the Innuit Gallery of artist, a block-cutter and a printer , all
Eskimo Art), Roy MacSkimming (jour under the control of a publisher. The lead
nalist and publishi ng consultant ), Terry ers of the sosaku hanga movement, which
EDITOR Ryan (managing director of the West started around 1910, regarded ukiyo-e
Marybelle Myers Baffin Eskimo Cooperative), Samuel Sar prints as merely impersonal reproduc
ick (Toronto businessman and noted col tions, however, and urged that printmak
EDITORIAL BOARD lector) and Francis Sparshott ing should be a single and continuous
Michael Bell, Helga Goetz (philosopher, poet and collector). This process of creation by the artist, who was to
Avrom Isaacs, Roy MacSkimming board has the responsibility of guiding be involved from conception to carving
Terry Ryan, Samuel Sarick editorial policy for IAQ. and printi ng of the actual block.-Their
Francis Sparshott It would be premature at this stage to aim was to elevate the art of printmaking
announce a definitive editoria l stance, to the same level as painting and sculpture
PRODUCTION EDITOR but I can say that our minimum goal is and, today, nearly all Japan ese printmak
Donna Williams to be a useful and stimulating source of ers, as well as their counterparts elsewhere,
information. We aim to cover the whole work m this mann er. It was, therefore,
spectrum of Inuit fine-art production, strange to me to find that the rather old
CIRCULATION MANAGER
publishing articles on marketing as well fashioned and more rigidly controlled
Connie Cunningham
as aesthetics. We will be soliciting con ukiyo-e method is being utilized in Cape
tributions from specialists in Inuit art as Dorset, where all prints are the work of ar
ADVERTISING MANAGER well as from writers in other fields with tisans. The artists themselves make only
Ingrid Eilbracht fresh perspectives to offer on the subject. the drawings; theyar e not at all involved in
Each issue will include one or two fea the process of printmaking.
ture articles, as well as news stories, in In May I 985, I had the opportunity to
terviews, profiles, reviews of visit Cape Dorset with the National Film
lnuil Art Quarterly is puhlishcd four limes a yc:ir in tht.• publications and exhibition s, and a ca Board. I was invited to teach my kind of
1non1hs of April (Spring), Jul)' (Summer ), Ocwbcr (Fall)
and January (Wimer) by Kingait Press with fiuancial lendar of events. Beyond this, however, woodcut to a group of young artists, and I
assistann· from Indian and Northern Affairs Ca11ada. we want to make the Inuit Art Quarterly was able to observe for myself how their
Editorial offices: R.R. #I, Baldtrson. Ontario K0G IA0.
Advt'Tlising, and cirrulation offices: 56 The Esplanade, a forum for lively debate. The exchange prints are made in the lavishly equipped
Suite 213, Toronto , Onwrio M5£ IA7 (416) 364+3333. of views on Inuit printmaking proce co-op studios. In contrast to the primit ive
All rights rl·scrvt."'I. Reproduction without \\'riuen dures contained in this issue is an exam conditions under which stone carving is
pcrmissio11 of the publisher is strictly forbidden. Not
rcsponsiblt· for unsolicit('(f material. Sccond-dass m;iil ple of the kind of candid commentary done m their homes, the print studio
rcgistrntion numlx·r pending. Pos1rn;Hilt:r st0nd address we intend to provoke. Inuit art can, we boasts stonecut and printing facilities for
changes 10 lriuit AIL Quancrly. 56 The Esplanade. Suite
213, Toronto , O111ario M5E. IA7. Subscription ratt'S i11 believe, stand up to objective, critical hir ed artisans and, also, super bly
Canada $25 for one year: OLJL~cki Canada $3:', for one yrnr. scrutiny. equipped lithography and etching work
Publica1io11< late of this issue April 1986. ISSN 0831-6708.
The views expressed in thC' Inuit Art Quarl('rly 3re not Finally, we want to be responsive to shops. The co-op supplies the artists with
necessarily those or the: (·di tor or the advisory board. our audience who, we suspect, constitute materials such as good French paper and
Producc·d on be hair of Kingair Press by Key Publishrrs Co. an untapped source of information and coloured pencils, and it also purchases
I.id. and Crnadian Art mag;:1i1n.e. L0go and format
designed by Kt'TJ Rodmdl. ideas. What topics or people would you everything they bring back, pricing the
like to read about? Can you write for us? drawings according to quality, which is
We welcome your comments and your determined by the advisor, Terry Ryan.
contributions. Ryan then selects those drawings that he
This first issue of the Inuit Art Quar thinks will make good prints and that will
From the Editor
terly is being distributed free of charge sell, passing them to the printmaking stu
This is the first issue of the Inuit Art to people selected for their interest in the dio which is in a separate building. There,
Quarterly, a publication for committed North, Inuit and/or art. I urge you to they are transferred onto smoothly pol
or casual collectors, scholars, dealers, art support us by subscribing now. With ished stone plates, but by carvers who have
ists, critics, curators, librarians and your help, we are assured of success. been doing this work for decades. Next,
teachers - indeed, everyone with a pro Marybelle Myers, Editor they are passed to the printers in an adjoin
fessional or a personal interest in Inuit ing room where the colours are printed in
Note: Some native groups prefer robe known as
an. Inuit, and the Canadian government uses this sequence. Finally, after an edition of.50 has
Although JAQ is published by Kin term exclusively. It is, however, difficult for a been neatly printed, the artist is called in to
gait Press, a trading partner of the West publication of this type to adhere to such rigid sign them.
Baffin Eskimo Cooperativ e, it is an inde usage, since Eskimo, the older term, has archeo I will conclude by commenting on the
pendent entity, transcending regional in logical significance and is incorporated into the I 985 graphics collection. I had already
terests and functioning at arm's length official names of some Arctic cooperatives. It is seen quite a few of the prints while I was in
from both the co-op and the federal gov also the word used to refer to the native popula Cape Dorset. My overall impression of the
tions of other polar areas: Siberia, Greenland
ernment, which provided seed money. collection remains - that the work is over
and Alaska. Finally,E skimo art carriesc onnota
Over the next few years, we will be en refined, tame and repetitious. The artisan
tions not communicated by Inuit art, particu
suring financial self-sufficiency through larly in the United States. Accordingly, JAQ will tradition of ukiyo-e in Japan had its own
the sale of subscriptions and advertising, use the te1ms interchangeably, guided by the strong sense of direction and produced, in
and we expect to be in a position soon topic being discussed and the author's comparison, much more original work.
to solicit funds from the private sector. preference. The work of Pudlo is one exception to
2 INUIT ART QUARTERLY SPRING 1986
commissioned popular painters to make
sketehes. The artisans then carved wood
blocks from the sketches and a skilled
printer made impressions on paper from
the blocks. They worked as a team, which
was possible because the families of the
painters and artisans had known one
another for generations. 1ne painters
knew what the woodcarvers and printers
were capable of and valued their interpre
tive contribution to the work. Likewise,
the artisans knew what the painters had in
mind and would refine the images as they
worked. Producing pictures through the
collaboration of painters and artisans
under the direction of a publisher was a
concept that though foreign or even unac
ceptable in the modem art world, was
quite amenable at the time. The ukiyo-e
method of printmaking was consistent
with a tribal type of society.
Vkzyo-e prints were produced as com Noboru Sawai in the Cape Dorset print
mercial produ cts; they w·ere quasi-art at shop. Photo: ]. Manning
besl. It was done as a means of earning a
Naoko Matsubara teaching woodcut Ii velihood and it is unlikely that those who printmaking process. While one would
printmaking to Kavavoa Munamee practised this viewed themselves as artists. carve the stone plates, another would pull
( brother of carver Axanayu Shaa) at Cape Similarly, the patrons of ukiyo-e prints the prints from the plates.
Dorset print shop. Photo:] ohn Paskievich may not have regarded them as works of I believe that the co-op's adoption of the
art. Indeed, during the latter part of the To ukiyo-e method of printmaking is appro
what I have said. He constructs a unique kugawa era, the established art was paint priate, given the closely knit nature of
world of his own and seems to know what ing executed in the tradition of the Kano Inuit society. It took some two or three
will attract southerners. I also think , in his family. The ukiyo-e tradition has not to hundred years for the Japanese people to
rnse, that the refined methods of lith tally disappeared in Japan, but it is prac evolve from ukiyo-e to sosaku hanga. This
ography or stonecut printing are working tised on a much smaller scale. evolution occurred because the people,
well. In the beginning of the 20th century, a through education and interaction with
I met Pudlo while I was in Dorset. He new breed of educated artists, many of other parts of the world, had acquired an
appears to be a stubborn, angry man who whom had studied in Europe, began to use artistic consciousness. The co-op at Cape
said clearly and repeatedly that he draws woodcut printmakin g as a means of artis Dorset has been successful with the ukiyo-e
only for money. During the past 20 years, tic expression, rather than as a means of method of printmaking, and the question
he must have made more than 4,000 draw making multiples . These artists partici we must ask is whether it is inevitable tha l
ings in this way. He continues to do what pated in all the phases of printmaking, the Inuit must also evolve from ukiyo-e lo
he claims affords him no pleasure at all be from the conceptual stage of image sosaku hanga?
cause, he says, it is the only way he can earn making to woodcarving and printing. The co-op artists have had liule formal
money. I told him that I did not believe This approach to woodcut printmaking training , other than allending occasional
what he said, since his work shows that he came to be known as sosaku hanga (liter workshops conducted by artists and teach
is a creative man. I asked if he wanted LO get ally, "creative printmaking"). In sosaku ers from the south. However, with the
involved in making the prints himself. He hanga, the catholicity of ukiyo-e was re emergence of a new generation of educated
replied bluntly that he would not do any placed by individualism. Sosaku hanga youth, secondary and post-secondary edu
thing unless he was asked to. He also men was the product of a more modern society. cational facilities will probably be in
tioned that he prefers his printed works to Unlike ukiyo-e prints, sosaku hanga stalled in the North along with permanent
his original drawings bernuse they have a prints are made consciously as works of an training centres in arts and crafts.
superior texture. He complained more by individuals who regard themselves as I predict that when Inuit establish them
than any other artist of the way the co-op being artists. selves as educated Canadians (retaining, of
operates and, yet, to my mind, the encour In the fall of 1984, I conducted a three course, their rich heritage), the question of
agement and support of the co-op has been week workshop in traditional Japane se ukiyo-e and sosaku hanga will resolve it
most beneficial in his case, helping him to woodcut printmaking for the Inuit people self. Sosaku hanga artists will, I believe,
develop as a creative artist. at Cape Dorset. Was it ukiyo-e or sosaku come to have a place in Inuit society. In the
hanga? Such a question had not entered meantime, through the cooperat ive efforts
my mind. I had simply wanted to share of artists and artisans, excellent works of
Noboru Sawai
with the Inuit the unique techniques and art can be produced without compromis
aesthetics of the medium. All of the work ing the integrity and individuality of
The traditional ukiyo-e method of wood shop participants did, however, do their either. In the emerging Inuit society, both
cut printmaking was developed in the 17th own image-making, woodcarving and have a place.
century in Japan in response to demands printin g.
made by the newly emerged middle class At that time, I observed Inuit stone relief Editor's note: For readers who are inter
who wanted inexpensive pictures in their prints. These prints were being produced ested in this subject, the Jan-F eb, 1986,
homes. Their favourite images included in the ukiyo-e tradition. The images for issue of the Print Collector's Newsletter
flowers, animals, familiar landscapes and the prints were selected from a quanti ty of (vol. 16, no. 6) reports on a symposium it
portraits of actors and actresses. Ukiyo-e drawings and a number of specially convened on the subject of collaborative
prints were produced by a publisher who trained people were involved in the actual printmaking .
SPRING 1986 INUIT ART QUARTERLY 3
Iconoclastic Reflections on prise, but collectors are particularly ill
ad vised to ration alize their own
motivation. Doing so leads to vacillation
Collecting Inuit Art and a denial of instinctive conviction. The
single most important lesson I learned dur
ing my collecting career was to buy
quickly and never intellectualize. First im
By Ian Lindsay
pressions are usually right.
Intuition is the collector 's primary re
T he Winnipeg Art Gallery has recently perseverance of those who devoted their source. Experience is also vital, the kind of
received an important donation of Jives to manic acquisitiveness. experience achieved in the "laying on of
Inuit art from Ian Lindsay, who has been A "collector's collection " is to be distin hands, " that intimate, continuing expo
described by James Houston as "Canada's guished from those amassed by institu sure that is thwarted by glass-encased mu
first passionate collector." Lindsay ac tions employing a succession of procurers seum displays. Such exhibits are no
quired some 500 pieces overa collecting ca with widely divergenL criteria and percep substitute for the oppor tunity to discover
reer spanning almost four decades. Many tions. Professionally assembled collections the stylistic clue in actual contact. I do not
of his carvings have been borrowed for im often have an uneven net result. The idio deny the value of archival scholarship, but
portant exhibitions such as the Master syncrntic collector cannot, of course, be it is a constraining approach, at odds with
works. Twenty years ago, about one-third compared to an academic clutching a the intui tion, and, sometimes, little more than
of his collection went to the Toronto Do sis hot off the Xerox machine. To my way a postmortem tabula tion. At best, it merely
minion Bank. His affair with Inuit art of thinking, the collecting instinct is more legitimates initial impressions by dressing
began almost by accident when, in 1949, he in line with the zeal of those 19th century the aesthe tic experience in academic
chanced upon that famous first sale at the gentlemen-scholars who, lacking technol Jargon.
Canadian Guild of Crafts in Montreal. He ogy and credentials, neverthel ess broke Although we may be prejudged as ec
was shocked to see "carvings by the box new ground with dreams and strong centric , there is no need for us to defend our
ful" being sold to an American buyer who convictions. peculiar tastes. I cringe when I hear col lec
was taking them out of Canada. Having My views on collecting may appear to be wrs parroting the obfuscational jargon of
created a minor scene by protesting to Mr. the Art Establishment, employ ing verbos
Molson, a prominent patron of the Guild, ity that excommmun icates rather than
Lindsay thought, "I'd better put my commu nicates. The collector, whether he
money where my mouth is," and impul be fascinated by hrxkey cards or the draw
sively bought several dozen small carvings. ings of Josie Papialuk, should stand his
A /though in retrospect they were a steal at ground. There arc, of course, no guaran
$300, it was n vindication he could hardly tees that one's viewpoint will survive the
afford at the time. Smitten, he began to test of time. That is the risk we take, not
haunt the Guild, laying the foundation of that it should ever be our primary concern .
one of the most impressive collections of Many fine Eskimo carvings are sleepers,
Inuit nrt ever assembled. That original in created by artists outside the mainstream
vestment of $300 panned out. Many of and unhera lded by curators, dealers and
those first carvings are included in the 183 civi I servants. It is here that the collector
pieces, made from 1949 to 1953, that are can show his perceptive mettle, assem
going to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The bling a collection that is truly unique, one
following is Lindsay's response to IAQ's based upon his own, not popular, tastes. It
request to comment on the art of was, of course, collectors who first per
collecting. ceived the virtue of Eskimo carving . The
curators discovered it later and the general
We arc now seeing colleCLions of Inuit public didn't catch on until the late '50s.
sculpture , started in the '40s and early '50s, Relying strictly upon intuiti on might
moving into public collections as their appear to be a risky course. Some have the
owners divest themselves of possessions in required perception; others might acquire
what is euphemistically referred to as their Tattooed Face with Labrets, artist un it over time, buy it, or take the safer option
"golden years." Some of the principal in known , Payne Bay (1953, soapstone and of choosing established genres. Research
stitutions that have benefitted are: the ivory, Ian Lindsay Collection). Photo: Ian ing the "best artists for investment" is,
Winnipeg Art Gallery (which acquired Lindsay however, an attitude I consider foreign to
collections from Bessie Bulman, ].F. Two the spirit of true collecting.
mey and George Swinton ); the Art Gallery somewhat radical, placing me outside the How much more exciting to sail un
of Ontario (the Klamer Collection); and, mainstr eam. But collecting is no common charted waters! I didn 't know anything
more recently, the National Gallery of activity. Indeed, many in the non abou t Inuit art when l started LO collect.
C.anada. collecting public look upon collectors as There were no authori ties LO guide me; I
This raises an interesting poii1t. The po eccentric, out of step with modern society, merely followed my hunc h that it was sig
sition and power of the collector in deter which recklessly consumes and discards nificant. There remain many avenues to
mining the character of collections in material resources. Some, of course, call us explore, creative talents overlooked by
many of the world's outstanding national avaricious and, certainly, the drive to mainstr eam collectors who too frequent ly
museums and galleries has not, I believe, gather and preserve can be looked upon as are seduced by the obvious and ostenta
been recognized. Indeed, in many cases, a refinement of the primitive human activ tious. There are, literally, hundreds of
collectors have determined the very image ity of gathering in order to live. Then there Inuit sculptors, known and unknown . In
of the institution. The McMichael Cana are the amateur psychologists, collectors as spite of repeated cries of "com mercial
dian Collection is an example that comes well as noncoll ectors, who, without trepi ism," many still find that, with its lack of
to mind, but many public collections exist dation, vemure to unravel the strands of conceit, Eskimo carving is ever-surprising ,
only because of the connoisseurship and motivation. This isalwaysa fruitless enter- still exotic. It rises for encore after encore.
4 INUIT ART QUARTERLY SPRING 1986
PEOPLE & PLACES
Young Artist: have any models in mind? Were you think
Aliva Tulugak ing of Charlie Sheeguapik or any of Po
vungnituk's great carvers?
Following is an edited excerpt from an Tulugak: No. Just that I remembered that,
interniew the editor conducted with since old Davidialuk died, there's been very
Aliva Tulugak, a young artist from Po few old-style mermaids. The other people
vungni tuk, Quebec, in May 1985. This was were doing ones that were always smooth.
the concluding interniew in a project to I tried to draw the figure a bit more like a
elicit attitudes concerning the Povung human on a mermaid, showing the rump
nitul< cooperative's carving program. Ali, and the scale. I carve the srale into the
as he is usually called, was collaborator stone instead of doing it after polishing,
interpretor on the project. The interview which I think gives it more feeling.
was in English. Myers: Do you enjoy carving? You started
because of practiral reasons. Did you get to
Myers: Let's talk about how you got started like it?
rarving. Tulugak: Oh yes. I sometimes, when I
Tulugak: I had to teach myself how to want to carve, have to get away from my
rarve. It was about seven years ago. Here I kids and my wife, because if I see them, I
was, unemployed , and didn't even have get distracted from my work. The longest
any money to buy cigarettes. I couldn 't stretch that I carved was a month , to pay A liva Tulugak from Povungnituk. Photo:
keep begging off my parents so I decided off the debts on my house. Cheryl Lean
that I was going to teach myself to carve. I Myers: Are you interested in hearing criti
sold the first carving I made to the co-op cism of your work? Do you want to know much. I went Lo see the National Museum
and was told, "Hey! You're a bit old for what people from the outside think? of Canada in Onawa. There was some Af
selling your first carving. " Tulugak: Yes. And I would like to know rican art there. I like to see an from other
The carvings I like doing bes tare the le what other people in the village think. We cultures, not the abstrnct ones, but the ones
gends, little walking heads or mermaid s, used to have a place where men would chip that arc true. I really like what we call" true
because I find when I try to do figures of in to pay for the fuel and have a place an," the ones with real life origins. Oh yes!
men that I can never outdo the other guys where they could carve together. I'd no There was one carving in Ottawa that I
in that area. I usually check around the ticed that there would be guys coming over really found amusing. It was by Joe (Tali
carving shop to find out what types of carv to look at me. I knew in their minds that runili ). I couldn't touch it bec.ause it was in
ings are not showing in the shop. I[ I do they were laughing at me, but I said to my a glass case, but I looked at it for a long
something different from other people, self, "Hold on! I've seen these guys' carv time. A guy was playing a violin sining
even if my carvings arc not well done, I ings sitting on the shelf. They've got no down and the head was movable. He had
think they will sell. That 's why I used to right tochuckleat me like that." Asa mat inserted the neck so the head could be
make figures of women with their babies. ter of fact, one day, I said, "That's enough. placed this way or that way. I thought that
All the men were doing figures of men If you think that you are such a good was a very origina l idea. Maybe when he
either fishing or killing a seal. rarver, how come I saw so many of your was working on the carving, the head had
Myers: When you started carving, did you carvings sitting on the shelf in the Federa broken off so he decided, "I can cut a hole
tion, not being sold?" in there and put a new head on."
Myers: How do you think people feel now Myers: Tha t's probably exactly what hap
about your carvings? pened. I always admired his ingenuity. We
Tulugak: '"'ell, there are a few, only a very used to get carvings from him that were
few, who think they are interesting. A lot held together with string and coloured
of them think that I am trying to copy with ballpoint pen or cm yon. How can the
somebody else's old style. purchase manag er (of the co-op) know
Myers: It has been suggested that the kinds what to do with things like that? Some
of carvings that white people like arc usu people could try that and they wouldn't
ally not the kinds of carvings that Inuit succeed. How could Joe pull that ofl? It's a
people like. Do you think that is true? very hard question.
Tulugak: Some people like Joe's carvings Tulugak: I don't know what made Joe
(Talirunili ), but they are afraid to say so tick, but you sense, when you look at his
because the majority think they are junk. work, that he put a lot of feeling and effort
The same thing with Josie's work (Papia into it. Maybe, as Koperqual uk told us the
Iuk), because the majorit y say, "That guy other day, the stone speaks for itself. It
is a joke. He is not producing carvings like shows the character of the person who
us. We do figures of animals very well and created it. Some people have poor charac
figures of humans very well, but this guy is ters. Some are lazy. But Joe, he was always,
like a kid learning how to carve." from what I hear, energetic when he was a
Myers: Are you imerested in other art? If younger man. He was always on the go.
you went to Montreal, would you go toan Maybe that's the reason why he succeeded.
Double Sedna by Aliva Tulugak. (1984, art gallery or to see art other than Inuit? His character came off on stones that he
I I" x 9W', black soapstone, Eusner Collec Does it interest you at a IP worked on. I guess he didn't care what
tion). Photo: Fran!<S wartz Tulugak: Yes. Some art interests me very other people thought , that's what made
SPRING 1986 INUIT ART QUARTERLY 5
him unique. Many people today are Lhink those experiences anymore . It would be Canadian Arctic as a guide for the explorer
ing, "Gee, if I do Lhis, whal is Lhis person too demoralizing to try to live off the land Vilhjalmur Stefansson. In Baillie, Natkut
going to Lhink about iL?W hal are Lher eli away from Lhe villages and see one of our siak met and married Nanogak's mother,
gious people going to say aboul it? Whal kids die from lack of medicine. We're not Topsy lkiunak. Then, in 1937, when
about Lhe older people?" That sort of used to that anymore. We're used to seeing Agnes was 12, the family moved to Hol
thing. Vie''ve gol so many things to worry Lheg overnment calling in Medivac to take man, a tiny Victoria Island community in
about that we don't even have our own people out righl away if they get too sick. the Western Arctic, roughly 1,600 miles
characlers when we live in the village any Myers: So there's no real way to turn back? north of Edmonton. It was there, in 1943,
more. There-is always another eye, another Tulugak: No. Not unless there is a great that Nanogak met and married the hunter
mind, that you have Low orry about. Peo war or whatever. Then we would have to Wallace Kunak Goose. Together they
ple can't be Lhemselvesanymore, except for start relying again on the resources that are raised seven children. Wallace Goose is
a few who don't really care what oLher peo available up North. with her today sharing this special hon
ple think. our; for she is the first Inui t artist ever to
Myers: What do you think is the hardest Nanogak Receives Honorary receive an honorary degree from any uni
part about making a carving? versity, anywhere.
Tulugak: The hardest part about making Doctorate She is one of Canada's major artists, de
a carving is trying to portray what is in veloping her career ou l of her rich cultural
your mind, Lo try to make it complete, to Agnes Nanogak has received an honor background. She inherited the Alaskan lra
put what you have imagined on stone. ary doctorate from Mount Saint di tion from her father, who, even when she
That's a very hard pan because, if you look Vincent University in Halifax. She is the was a child, would encourage her to draw.
at it, that's not the way you saw it in your first Inuk to be so honoured. Nanogak at Because of her mother, she was in contact
mind when you started out. If you chop off tended the Diamond Jubilee Convocation with the different cultures and tribes living
a hand, you have to have a shorter hand or on October 20, 1985, with her husband, in the Mackenzie Delta and along the coast
else throw the whole stone away. The Wallace Goose, who died two months up to Baillie Island. When she was young,
hardest part is trying to create into reality later, on Christmas Day. After his death, she listened to the old storytellers of Victo
what you want to show to other people. she moved from Holman Island to Inuvik ria Island. Later, she found in her hus
Myers: It's an unusual siluation when Lhe band's grandmother, Mamie Mamovak,
economic base of whole communities is another gifted storyteller.
the producLion of art. Has some of the Agnes Nanogak is noted for her ener
weight been taken off the carving program getic and colourful depictions of tradi
lately? tional myths and legends. Her prints and
Tulugak: There's some of us who are inter drawings are dominated by shamanism
ested in going into differenl projects, but (witch doctors, spirit dancers, sorcerers), by
the facl that we have no banks available Lo bird and animal spirits, as well as by the
borrow money Lo starl prevems us from games and contests, the dances and cos
going into businesses that we think would tumes, and the drumm ing and chanting
be successful. Also, we don'L wanl to inter traditional to Inuit celebrations. Her work
fere with the co-op businesses thal already also reflects the closeness with which the
exist. That's one of Lhe reasons we have so Inuit lived on the land and their tradi
much difficully up here in daily life. Peo tional dependence upon the anima ls.
ple down soulh, if Lhey wanL to buy a She has been featured in every print col
house, can go to a bank and borrow lection published by the Holman artists'
money. Here, there is no way. So the only cooperative since 1967. In 1972 she illus
thing, if you really wanl to make money, is trated a book of Inuit stories, Tales from
Lob e a good carver, or if you wanl lo just sit the Igloo (published by Hurtig Publishers
and wait for your welfare cheques, that's in Edmonton ). In 1982, she received a
your right too. Canada Council grant to tape-record and
Myers: I guess some people are feeling a lit illustrate Alaskan , Delta and Copper Es
tle worried now that the co-ops are notable kimo stories. Hunig is publishing a book
to buy carvings as indiscriminately as they Nanogak, artist from Holman Island, zs next month of her illustrations and le
have done in the past. the first Inuk to receive an Honorary Doc gends. A Swedish company will release a
Tulugak: I don't feel worried at all because torate. Photo courtesy Mount Saint Vin film of Inuit legends based on her work.
I know that people survived when there cent University Her images enliven a number of National
were no carvings. They can still. The ma Film Board productions . Her prints and
jority of them can still live off the land if where she continues to draw, signing her drawings are in major international collec
they have to. Most of us, because the food work "Dr. Agnes Nanogak." Following is tions, from Fort Worth , Texas, to the Na
costs so much at the stores, have to supple the convocation citation by J\!lary Spa tional Museum in Ottawa, to Halifax.
ment our way of life with coumry food rling, director of the Art Gallery at Mount Mount Saint Vincent University owns
anyhow. Saint Vincent and chair of the Canadian 20 of her drawings. And that is a story in
Myers: Is it possible for anybody to live off Eskimo Arts Council. itself. I met Agnes Nanogak when I visited
the land now? Can you live without buy Holman Island in November 1978. Her
ing equipmenl , guns, boats, things like Most Reverend Chancellor, home was filled with modern furnishings,
that? I have the honour to present Agnes Na while piled outside on a ledge out of reach
Tulugak: No. Not JOOp ercent. We've gone nogak at this special 60th year celebration of the dogs were the skins and carcasses
too far to turn back. People are used to see at the Mount. It. is fitting that in this year from her husband's hunting. Inside and
ing their children getting sick and being she too celebrates a diamond anniversary, outside, all around the commun ity, child
healed by southern medicine. Before, they for she was born in November 1925, on 'ren played. In 1979, when the gallery was
had no alternative but to accept the fact Baillie Island in the Northwest Terri tories. planning with Dr. Joyce Kennedy the ex
that if the child got sick, and sick enough Her father was William Natku tsiak, hibition Views of Childhood to mark the
to die, he was going to die. We don't have who rnme from Nome, Alaska, to the Internat ional Year of the Child, we
6 INUIT ART QUARTERLY SPRING 1986
thought of Nanogak's vivid imagery and I was hired by the GNWT to supervise a along with my own contribution of $1,500
asked her if she would be willing to do a project to gel soapstone into Eskimo and comributions from some of the dealers
series of drawings showing traditional Point. I had worked with S-Mite, an ex of Inuit art, gave us a total of about
views of Inuit childhood: their games, ac panding powder made by a Japane se ce $17,000, enough to chanera plane to take a
tivities and surroundings. Because we re ment company, in Pangnirtung, where group to Ennadai for two weeks. The CBC
ceived a matching grant of $1,000 from because of the whale ground they couldn 't showed an interest in going with us to
Canada Council, and also because, within blast the stone. When S-Mite is mixed with make a program for national broadcast.
the university, other departments offered warm water and poured into the cracks in This was televised in October and the
to purchase drawing s, we were finally able the stone, it expands, breaking off pieces whole thing delighted some of the older
to buy20 of them. The drawings were exhi that are good to carve because they have carvers. It was, as you might imagine, a
bited in our art gallery as pan of Views of few fissures. very emotional time when they stepped
Childhood. They were the hit of the show. Using this new technique of chemically again onto their old hunting grounds.
The wonderfully descriptive and colour extracting the stone, we managed to get We received some very good publicity
ful, joyful, rollicking drawings showed 12,000 pounds for Eskimo Point, a great for the carvings that were being done at Es
children fishing through the ice, playing achievement. IL was enough to last the kimo Point this way and so our expecta
tag around the inukshuks , sledding, build carvers until the fall of 1985. The sudden tions started to rise. Shortly after returning
ing igloos, learning from their parent s, in availability of stone rekindled the interest from the Ennaclai trip, we went out to get
a landscape filled with every sort of bird of the artists, who started producing things more soapstone, coming back with 60,000
and animal, and shining over all, the sun! of great beauty. The Eskimo Point people, pounds of first-quality stone. There was
These drawings are now on permanent by the way, do not carve for the market. now great momentum in the carving pro
display in the Don MacNeil room in Rosa They carve for themselves, for what they gram. The work was showing tremen
ria Centre. call "Honda money." dous vitality and we collected about 160
Most Reverend Chancellor, it is for The only problem was that Hanavik pieces for a fall show that was scheduled to
Agnes Nanogak's outstanding contribu could not afford to keep paying out the take place in Ottawa in November 1985.
tion to the artistic life of this country and $8,000 a momh it was costing to buy all the Unfortunately, due to internal problems of
for her having recorded some of the amaz work being produced. Accordingly, the the gallery, that show had to be cancelled.
ing cullure of C'~nada's North that I ask Padlei Cooperative in Eskimo Point be- Further misfortune occurred when, on De
you, in the name of the Senate of Mount cember 9, Hanavik had to cease buying
Saint Vincent University, LO confer on carvings. It was now up to the Eskimo
Agnes Nanogak the degree of Doctor of Point cooperativ e to carry alone the
Humane Letters, Honoris Causa. burden of purchasing the total output ,
which remains at approx imately $8,000 to
$9,000 per momh. The quality of the carv
ings is excel lent, but the small co-op is not
Gabe Gely Writes from
in a financial position to carry on such
Eskimo Point massive purchasing.
Hanavik is now buying mainly wall
Gabriel Cely, or "Gabe"·as he is usu hanging s, parkas and fur products , and I
ally known , has been working in the don't think they are prepared to go into
Canadian Arctic since 1953. He was a cook purchasing carvings again. It is a no-win
for the Department of Transport for a situation now and I really don't know
while but has worked mainly as an arts and where lo turn for assistance. If the co-op in
crafts advisor lo Inuit. An artist himself, he Eskimo Poim has to stop buying carvings,
has been a driving force behind produc their credibility will suHer. The only other
tion in many communi ties. His work in option would be to put the people on a
Eskimo Point was f ea lured on CB C's Fifth quota system, which is hardly practical.
Estate in October 1985. The following is Perhaps the greatest difficulty for us up
Gely's response to IAQ 's request for an up here has been the vacuum created by Cana
date on carving activities in that Gabriel Cely during a con/ erence for cura dian Arctic Producers' move to Winnipeg.
community. tors and specialists in Inuit Art, Ottawa, They are joining forces with La Federa
1982. Photo courtesy of Indian and North tion des Cooperat ives du Nouv eau
I came to Eskimo Point in November 1984 ern Affairs Canada Qucbec, which may help, but we will have
with the idea of taking up permanent resi to wait several momhs more before posi
dence. Actually, I consider this my derniere came involved in local purchasing and, be tive effects on the marketing of carvings are
demeure. I have a small house I'm build tween the two, the carvers were able Lok eep felt up here.
ing here, and although I'll be travelling to going. We were able to purchase the total So this is more or less what is going on
Baffin and other places, this is my base. output of the carvers. in Eskimo Point at the moment. There is a
The situation here in 1984 was that the Many of the people here originally came grey or a difficult time lo be suffered
Government of the Northwest Territories from Ennadai Lake, having been removed through until CAP's marketing service
(GNWT) was turning over the ans and LO Eskimo Poim by the federal governmem reaches its former level. I'm thinkin g of a
crafts projects to the private sector. Due to .in the late '50s. Of course, they always number of shows, perhaps, and publicity
a tenuous financial situation, the Padlei dreamed of going back to their homeland. in the form of catalogues and mono
Cooperative in Eskimo Point was not buy It occurred to me that it might be possible graphs. I think we are having a huge suc
ing carvings , so they were being sold to for them to realize their dream. I asked cess at the present level of production. We
Hanavik Art, owned by Nick Lebessis, Moiya Wright of The Snow Goose Gallery have mined and stockpiled a lot of soap
who retails in the south. Therewere ,atany in Ottawa to give me a hand in seeking stone but this is only one aspect of the
rate, very few carvings being made, clue LOa funding for what became known as "The problem. The other is, of course, that we
shortage of soapstone. We cannot, of Ennadai Project." The federal people gave cannot reach out to market the carvings.
course, talk about fine art unless we have $5,000 and the Department of Cultural Af We have the goods, the potential, but we
the raw material. fairs in Yellowknife gave $7,000, which, can't reach out.
SPRING 1986 INUIT ART QUARTERLY 7
U P D A T E Nouveau-Quebec in Toronto. The two
distributors have been involved in an in
ventory exchange for the past year, the first
step toward a cooperative marketing ven
ture to be known as Tuttav ik.
Legal Precedent Established Tuttavik Is it Eskimo? Is it Art?
An important legal precedent was Cooperatives in the Northwest Terri
recently established when the Ontario tories and northern Quebec are join Aconference entitled Inuit Art: Con
Court ruled that the sale of Inuit printing ing forces to form a new company that will temporary Perspectives (ls it Eskimo?
blocks was illegal. The issue was raised in be known as Tuttavik, an Eskimo word Is it Art?) was held February 7 and 8 at the
connection with an injunction La Federa that means "working together." Tuttavik Fleming Museum, University of Vermont,
tion des Cooperatives du Nouveau will be a new corpora te entity, jointly Burlington . Cosponsored by the museum,
Quebec had placed on the sale of two print owned by La Federation des Cooperatives the Department of Art and Anthropology
stones by Waddington, McLean & Co. Ltd. du Nouveau-Quebec and Arctic Coopera at the university, and the Cemre for North
in Toronto in 1980. IAQ asked Mary tives Limited (ACL). The first step will be ern Studies in WolcotL, Vermont, the con
Craig, fine art director of FCNQ, to report the opening of a shm~Toom and distribu ference was attended by more than 200
on the incident. tion centre in Toronto, which is planned people. It was held in conjunct ion with
for the spring of 1986,a It hough as we go to the exhibition Arctic Vision: Art of the
In November 1980, two Povungnituk press, details are still being worked out. Canadian Inuit, which has been circulat
print stones came up for auction at Wad Ever since the second Arctic Cooperative ing in the United States for the past two
dington 's in Toronto. They were the ma Conference, held in Povungnituk in 1963, years.
trices for Eskimo Woman Transformed Inuit have dreamed of linking their coop The keynote address was given by Nel
into a Seagull by Davidialuk Alasuak eratives at a national level. Instead, co-ops son Graburn, professor of anthropolog y at
(1969, #420) and Return of the Survivors in the Northwest Territories and Quebec the University of California, Berkeley. Ro
from the Floating Ice by Joe Talirunili followed separate paths, served by separate bert McGhee, Arctic archeologist at the
(1966, #273). federations. From time to time, the issue of National Museum of Man in Ottawa, de
The Davidialuk stone came up on the unity was raised, but il wasn't until 1978, scribed the e-arly inhabitants of the Arctic
first evening and the bidding rose LO prompted by a desire to prevent further and presemed slides that showed prehis
$2,400. The Talirunili was scheduled for fragmentation of the markel for arts and toric objects, bot.h utilitarian and magico
the following evening but, before it came crafts, thal a definite proposal was put religious.
up, there was an outcry from several peo forth. At a meeting of most of the agencies Saturday's speakers included George
ple. Alma Houston and George Swinton involved in marketing , the Quebec C.o-op Swinton, Mame Jackson and Virginia
were the most vocal objectors, questioning Federation proposed an amalgamation of Watt, former chairman of the Canadian
the propriety of the sale on the grounds the marketing operations in Quebec and Eskimo Arts Council. Razie Brownstone ,
that it violated the International Conven the Northwest Territori es. Althoug h con director of the Innuit Gallery in Toronto,
tion relating to original prints. sidered by some to be impracti cal, it ap pointed out that the dealer system for Inuit
Nobody from La Federation des Coop pears that Tuttavik will now become a artists does not foster individua l develop
eratives du Nouveau-Quebec(which repre reality. ment in the same way as it does for anis ts
sents the Povungnituk Cooperative) was in the south, and that it is costly for dealers
present, being unaccountably unaware of Canadian Arctic Producers to handle Inuit art as they must buy every
the situation. Once informed, however, we thing outright and do not buy on consign
took immediate action. A request to the Moves to Winnipeg ment. Marie Routledge talked about the
auction house that the stones be with National Gallery of Canada's new policy
drawn was refused, so FCNQ's lawyer Canadian Arctic Producers (CAP), now to begin collecting Inuit art, which can be
claimed the Davidialuk block and had an a division of Arctic Cooperatives taken as a resolution of the long-standing
injunction placed on the Tal irunili . No Limited (ACL), moved from Ottawa to controversy as to whether or not contem
legal aCLion was taken against Wadding Winnipeg in August 1985. The move was porary Inuit art belongs in ethnographic
ton's because, as we were informed by Mr. prompted by financial considera tions after museums rather than art collections. Jac
Waddington, the auction house bought the amalgamation of CAP and ACL, queline Fry related contemporary Inuit art
the Davidialuk stone itself and then do which had been based in Yellowkni fe. An to recent art of Africa and American Indi
nated it to the National Museum of Man in drew Goussaert, chief executive officer of ans, and Peter Millard, the final speaker,
Ottawa. ACL, says, "It was expensive to operate out discussed lhe concept of quality as defin
Recovery of the second stone took con of Yellowknife, since we had to pay a hous ing art.
siderably longer. A bill of sale signed by ing allowance for each of our employees, In the spring of 1987, the American Re
the print-shop manager revealed that it as well as for annual lrips to their home view of Canadian Studies plans to put out
had been purchased in Povungnituk in bases in southern Canada. Anyhow, as far an issue devoted to a selection of papers
1968 for less than $5. It was decided to use as the Inuit are concerned, it makes no dif from the conference.
this bill of sale as the basis of our claim. In ference whether we are operating out of
brief, our argument was that the bill of sale Yellowknife or Winnipeg."
constituted evidence that the purchaser , It was originally thought that the new
The National Collections
knowing the true value of the stone, had headquarters for CAP and ACL would be
taken advantage of an unwittingemployee Toronto, but the Manitoba government
of the co-op and that he was aware that of offered incentives to settle in Winni peg, a Both the National Museum of !Wan and
fering it at public auction was unethical. site that is, in any case, more convenient to the National Gallery of Canada in
Four and a half years later, in June 1985, the Northwest Territories. CAP will main Ottawa are preparing to move into new
we received a judgement of the court de tain a showroom in Winnipeg but, in quarters. Following are brief reports on ac
claring that the Povungnituk Cooperative March, began sharing showroom space tivities relating to Inuit art that are cur
was the owner of the stone. with La Federation des Cooperatives du rently underway at each institution .
8 INUIT ART QUARTERLY SPRING 1986
In 1988 the National Museum of Man exhibitions, both permanent and travel with the study and practice of native art.
will open a multimillion-dollar mu ling, to follow the opening of the gallery's Although membership is open to all, his
seum comp lex. Approximately 2300 new building in 1988. torians of native art, archeologists and eth
square metres of its new headquarters at nologists, artists of native heritage, cura
Pare Laurier in Hull , Quebec, have been Introducing Two tors of native art collections, art critics,
allocated for gallery space to exhibit works dealers and collectors are particularly en
of Canadian native artists. The opening Native Art Study Groups couraged to join.
exhibition , 20th Century Native Art, will Communication among members will
fill this entire space, and part of this ex T here are two recently formed associa take the form, initially, of a biannual (or
hibit will remain in place to form the basis tions for the study of Inuit art: The quarterly, if funds allow) newsletter and
of a "semipermanent " gallery that shows Native Art Study Group of Ottawa and the annual meetings to be held in conjunction
the development of native art from the his Native Art Studies Association of Canada with the Universities Art Association of
torical to the contemporary. The remain (based at Trent University in Peterbo Canada/ Association d'art des universites
mg space will be used for temporar y rough). IAQ will publish reports of sim du Canada. The first confere nce of
Indian and Inuit art exhibition s. ilar groups elsewhere, if copy is provided. NASAC/ ACEAA will, therefore, be held
Of the 9,000 works in the Contemporary in November 1986 in Victoria, British Co
Native Art Collection, approximat ely The Native Art Study Group of Ottawa lumbia , at which time nominations and
7,000 are by Inuit. There are 1,596 sculp was formed in 1982 to provide a forum for election of a slate of officers will take place.
tures (including 173 ceramics); 4,731 the exchange of ideas and information Membership fees ($15/regular and $5/
prints; 189 drawings and paintings; 58 about Canadian native art. Ottawa has an native artists and full-time students) are
wall hangings and 217 handicraft items. unusuall y large community of scholars, payable to Native Art Studies Association
Although the collection preserns a gocxl students and professional s with a serious of Canada/L'Association Canadienne des
overview of cornemporary works, there re interest in this area because of the presence Etudes d'Art Autochtone , do Jean Blod
main major gaps that must be filled before of the national museums , certain govern gett, Acting Treasurer, Department of Art
it can be considered as truly comprehen ment agencies and two universities in History, Carleton University, Ottawa, On
sive. Its strength resides in its prints, the which native Canadian an is a research tario KLS 5B6. For more information , you
most complete archival record of its type in area for faculty and students. may contact Joan Vastokis at the Depart
the world. During its first two years, the study ment of Anthropology, Trent University,
The rest of the collection is small in group was sponsored by Carleton Univer Peterborou gh, Ontario K9J 7B8.
comparison . Due to current federal finan sity's Departmen t of Art History and the
cial constraints, only approx imately University of Ottawa's visual arts depart
Cape Dorset Print Workshop
$25,000 per year is allocated for the pur ment. It has now become an independelll
chase of works, an exceedingly small organization with an active membership
amount, which, according to Odette Le of about 50 people in Ottawa, Montreal, A printmaking workshop took place
roux, curator of Inuit art at the National Peterborough and Toronto. Meetings are the last two weeks of February at Cape
Museum, has drastically curtailed the ac held on the first Wednesday of the momh , Dorset, conducted by Don Holman, head
qui sition of special objects to fill impor from October to April, in the National of the graphic arts program at Scarbo
tant gaps in the collection. In order to Museum of Man. rough Campus , University of Toronto,
supplement purchases , the museum is en During the past four years, a varied pro and Liz Parkinson of Open Studio, To
couraging donations of works from pri gram of informal talks has been presemed. ronto. Delegates were invited from other
vate collectors. The scope of these presentations has Arctic printmakin g communities. The
The Museum 's collections policy is ranged from contemporary to prehistoric focus was on lithograph y, with demon
now under revision, but it is recognized art, from Inuit to Indian art, from the prac strations and instruction s being under
that emphasis must be placed on the con tica I to the theoretica I. taken in stencil, etching and stone-cut.
tinued collection of modern Inuit art if Interested visitors to Ottawa are most According to Terry Ryan, the only disap
this collection is to maintain its position welcome to attend meetings, which are poimmelll expressed was in regard to the
of pre-eminenc e. held at the museum Wednesday nights at8 shortness of the workshop and the long
p.m. Announ cements of meetings are sent distances people had to travel to attend.
The National Gallery of Canada recently to members; the annual fee is $10 and Plans are underway to find additional
began adding to its small holding of Inuit should be sent to the treasurer, Mrs. Helen funding to allow printmakers to respond
art. Assistant curator , Marie Routledge, Rapp, 989 Blythdale Road, Ottawa , On to requests from fellow printers to travel to
who has been seconded for a two-year tario K2A 3N9. communitie s that have need of more con
period from the Inuit art section of Indian centrated and lengthier instruction.
and Northern Affairs, reports: "Recent On Tuesda y, October 29, 1985, a small
gifts from M.F. Fehelcy, Dorothy Stillwell, group of art historians , curato rs and artists
Virginia Watt and the Friends of the Na met informally in the cafeteria of the Na Vignettes
tional Gallery represem the first additions tional Gallery of Canada with the purpose
of contempora ry Inuit art to the gallery's of founding a society that would bring to A conservative estimate is that 1,400
collection since a 1984 revision of its acqui gether all those across the country who people attended the opening of the
sitions policy. With the new policy, the have a special concern for native art. The Kenojuak Retrospective Exhibition at The
gallery affirms its commitment to collect result is a new group, the Native Art Stu McMichael Canadian Collection in Klein
the work of Canadian Inuit artists and dies Association of Canada/ L 'Associa Lion burg, Ontario , on January 19. It was
thereby recognizes the importance and Canadienne des Etudes d'Art Autochtone opened by the Lieutenant Governor of On
qualit y of their work within the fabric of (N ASACI ACEAA). tario, Lincoln Alexander , and Kenojuak
comemporary Canadian art." The society's objective is to promote re was in attendance.
Presently, a modest group of three of the search, teaching and understanding of na Terry Heath resigned as director of the
recem sculpture acquisitions is on display tive art history - prehistoric, historic and Winnipeg Art Gallery in August 1985. His
on the third floor of the gallery. Prepara contemporary Indian and Inuit an - as successor is Gtrol Phillips from the Nor
tions are also underway to develop an on well as to establish and maintain com man McKenzie Art Gallery in Regina.
go 1 n g program of research and munication among all those concerned Marie Routledge of Indian and North-
SPRING 1986 INUIT ART QUARTERLY 9
ern Affairs Canada has been seconded to REVIEWS
the National Gallery for a two-year period
to assist with the curatorship of the
gallery's new acquisitions of Inuit art.
Conferences: An invitational conference
on the subject of "Cultural and Genetic In
Exhibitions
fluence on Excellence in An Among
Inuit " was held in February at Queen 's
University in Kingston, Ontario. A session Kenojuak: A Retrospective Exhibition thetics over content. Her mastery of the
at the October 1985 Conference of the Januar y 19-May 4, 1986 total design field, her sense of positive/
Native American Art Studies Association, The McMichael Canadian Collection, negative space and her increasing confi
held at the University of Michigan, was de KJeinbur g, Ontari o (416/893-1121) dence with colour and volum inous forms
voted to Inuit art. Speakers included Nel stamp her as a designe r par excellence.
son Grahurn, whose topic was "Literatur e In Overlay: Contempora ry Art and the This is one of the first retrospectives of a
of Eskimo Art," and Mame Jackson, who Art of Prehistory, Lucy Lippard re contemporary Inuit artist in a field that for
spoke on "The Evolution of Artistic Con marked that a "combination of collecti too long has featured generic or group
sciousn ess in Inuit Art." vism and conceptuali sm is the point at shows. Does Kenojuak transcend the eth
Kathy McC!oskey from the Departm ent which prehistoric and contemporar y art nic label? Does her work speak directly to
of Sociology , University of Windsor , spoke most significantly meet." Kenojuak's life all viewers as art, even through the layers
to the Ottawa Native Art Study Group, and career span both prehistoric and con of visual interpretatio n and cultural blind
March 5, 1986, on "The Art-Craft Distinc temporary worlds and her work evidences spots?
tion in Western Thought and How It Has both collectivism and conceptualism. Yes. She does not speak in a western soci
Affected Perceptions of Native Art." Born in 1927, Kenojuak grew up intra ological or psychoa nalytic language, but
Donations: 183 lnuitartworks have been ditional Inuit camps along the southern in a Jungian tongue of universal emblems
transferred to the Winnipeg Art Gallery Baffin Island coast, emergi ng in the late or archetypes. \I\Thile referring to culturally
from the collection of Ian Lindsay. Some 1960s as a pre-eminent Canadian artist. specific Inui t reality (such as flora/fauna),
700 works from the M.F. Feheley Collec Her earliest images have become emblems her forms are compressed, streamlined and
tion will be transferred to the National of Canadian culture: The Woman Who visually generalized to become the stuff of
Gallery over a number of years. Lives in the Sun and The Enchanted Owl. dreams and the super reality of the uncons
Things Made By Inuit, a catalogued ex Yet, due to her geographic remoteness and cious. They illustrate those qualities Lip
hibition mounted by La Federation des the fuzzy romanticism fostered by the bur pard cites as being at the juncture of
Cooperativ es du Nouveau-Quebec in 1980 geonin g Inuit an movement (conceived preh istoric and contemporary art: collecti
to tour Arctic Quebec communities, primaril y as an economic initiative), she, vism and concep tualism .
opened at the Morris Museum of Arts & like all individu al Inuit artists, was lost in Kenojuak's work is know n to the Cana
Sciences in Morristown, New Jersey, in a flood of euphori c generic promotion. dian and international publi c primar ily
January 1985 and closes this spring. This exhibition , curated by Jean Blod through the interceding print media. Her
Quarrying soapstone: Canadian Arctic gett, does much to rectify the situat ion. "prin ts" are really a collective effort and
Producers and the Government of the There are 63 drawings and 57 print s, three the artist's input, alth ough distinct ive, is
Northw est Territories are assisting co-ops print-ston es and three engraving plates, conceptual. This is the reality of Inuit
to obtain soapstone with S-Mite, a new nine sculptur es and three crafted items, all printmaki ng. In this show, the whole pro
nonexplosive demoliti on powder. displa yed in four gallery areas. In addi cess is revealed to the public in a way that is
Simon Tacoomie from Baker Lake won tion, a loung e area [ea tures photographs of both obvious and subtle. The idea (draw
$8,000 for a print he designed for the Win the artist and her community and the early ing) is juxtapos ed with the final produ ct
ter Olympics in Calgary. He was the sub National Film Board documenta ry on her (print), and the viewer is gradua lly guided
ject of the CBC's World at Six in December life. It is a rambling, but evenly paced to an awareness of the formative inf! uences
1985. exhibit. of the printmaki ng processes on the art it
Ruth Annaqtuusi Tulurialik and David The initial revelation of the exhibition self. Elizabeth McLuhan
Pelly, authors of The Vital Vision: Draw has nothing lo do with Kenojuak but,
ings by Ruth Annaqtuusi Tulurialik , were rather, with the process of printma king
present at the launching of their book at and the ensemble effort involved in creat
The Snow Goose in Ottawa, February 27, ing a "Kenojuak print." Blodgett has care
1986. fully documented and juxtap osed the
In March 1986, Dorset Fine Arts took artist's drawings over a period o[ 20 years
over the restoration and conservation ser with the prints made from these designs by
vice formerly provid ed by W. Maze low Inc. many different Inuit printm akers. As she
The new operation, known as Dorset Con effectively demonstrates, drawing and
servation Inc. and under the direction of printmaking are mutua lly exclusive activi
Ken Lockwood, will have expanded facili ties in Cape Dorset. One invaluable func
ties for the restoration- conservation of tion of the exhibit is, therefor e, in
prints , watercolours, graphics and docu acquainting us with the names and careers
ments. It will be located at 509 Queen St. of hitherto unkn own Inui t artisan s.
E., Toronto M5A !VI (416/363-6844). The show is, however, primar ily a dis
Deaths: Henry Napartuk of Great covery of Kenoju ak, idio sync rat ic
Whale River died in November 1985, and draughtsman and ingenious designer. As
Nanogak's husband, Wallace Goose, died Blodgett shows us, Kenoj uak is, above all,
on Christmas Day in Holman Island. a formali st. Compared to their design pos
A fire in tl1e Holman Island craft shop in sibiliti es, images per se are of incidental Kenojuak cu.ts ribbon at exhibition open
October 1985 destroyed the co-op's inven value to her. What has distingui shed Ke ing with Lieutenant Governor Lincoln
tory of silkscreen textiles and sealskin nojuak's work from the beginning is, as Alexander looking on. Photo courtesy of
produ cts. she herself has said, her concern with aes- the McMichael Canadian Collection
10 INUIT ART QUARTERLY SPRING 1986