Inuit: Land of Arctic Ice

Tim Pitsiulak - Bull Walrus (2015)

This resettlement or colonial period, together with the forced introduction to education, had a profound and damaging effect on the Inuit, which they are still trying to overcome. Life in the communities and the increased reliance on “western” foods and products, changed the traditional economy to a wage economy. Art making in the Canadian Arctic, unlike the rest of the world, was instigated by the Government of Canada through the Department of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources. The motivation was economic as opposed to any need expressed by the Inuit to produce arts and crafts (Goetz, 1985: p. 43). In a culture used to making things for survival, art making was a logical progression to being able to earn a living through arts and crafts. And people appeared to have a natural propensity for working with stone. Northern Affairs promoted the establishment of co-operative organizations, which it felt would fit well with the cooperative nature of Inuit societies (Blodgett, 1991: p. 15). Although the government intervened financially with the economy of the north, it never intended to do so forever. “Once the [arts and crafts] development projects became viable, the Department assumed that the Co-operatives would take over and [the government] would withdraw” (Goetz, 1985: p. 47). The goal was eventual Inuit self-sufficiency.

Alice Akamak - Beaded Doll (2015)

The 1950s to 1970s was the high point of the government’s involvement. Arts and Crafts officers were recruited to go to Cape Dorset, Baker Lake and Pangnirtung (in what is now Nunavut), Holman Island (now Ulukhaktok in the Northwest Territories) and Povungnituk in northern Quebec (now Nunavik), to set up printmaking co-operatives. Today, only the Kinngait Studios at the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative Limited in Cape Dorset is producing annual collections of prints. The longevity of production and quality of Cape Dorset prints were due to the effort and vision of Terry Ryan, who had come to Cape Dorset to work at the Co-operative as a young art student. An Arts and Crafts Development officer’s terms of reference included: “To help provide material, financial, and technical assistance to the Inuit (Eskimo) artists and crafts people, to encourage them to draw on their material culture, and the materials indigenous to the land”. (Crassweller, n.d.: p. 4). James Houston, who is credited with bringing the world’s attention to Inuit art, was responsible for the first Inuit art sale and show in southern Canada held at the Canadian Guild of Crafts in Montreal (QC) in 1939. He also introduced the Japanese method of print production to Cape Dorset (with a northern flavor, using stone instead of wood) when he was a federal service officer in Cape Dorset in 1954.

Philippa Aggark - Mini Kamiks (Booties) (2015)

Nunavut comprises three regions, Qikiqtaaluk in the east, the Kivalliq in the central Arctic, and the Kitikmeot in the west. Each region has its own distinctive art, stylistically determined in large part by the stone used for its carvings and sculpture. The hardness of the stone in the Kivalliq resulted in distinctive strong, simple sculptural forms, primarily of the human figure and animals. The softer serpentine used in the east lent itself to more ornate and detailed pieces displaying animals and themes of transformation, fantasy and legends. The art from the Kitikmeot, created from stone and mixed media such as bone, whalebone, musk ox horn, caribou antler and fur, often resulted in scary, large-eyed monster-like creatures.

Evie Kunilusie - Winter Scene (2015)

These wall hangings are created in the privacy of each artist’s home. There is no communal workshop. Each is a unique piece, representing the vision, stories and memories of each artist. The stitches are the signature of each artist. Nunavut’s Culture on Cloth is a collection of nineteen wall hangings created by the women of Baker Lake in the privacy of their homes. Using vibrant colours and patterns, the tapestries convey Inuit stories, beliefs, and traditions. The artworks are stitched by hand on duffle cloth and tell stories of the Canadian Arctic and have been seen around the world (Mongolia, China, India, Latvia, Mexico, Japan, Finland, Russia, France, Argentina, Sweden, Netherlands, Croatia, Canada, to name a few countries).

Ramona Barkhouse - Barren Beauty (2015)

The tapestries use strong blocks and lines of colour to depict traditional Inuit hunting scenes and enigmatic symbols of significance to Inuit culture. With no written tradition, the Inuit used tapestries such as these to convey their history and beliefs. The application of women’s traditional sewing skills to the production of textile art first started in the settlement of Baker Lake, Nunavut, in the 1960s. After making wool duffle mittens, socks, and clothing, seamstresses used the leftover multi- coloured pieces of fabric to make art to hang on walls. In embracing a foreign artistic medium, the women of Baker Lake made their wall hangings a vehicle for expressing centuries-old Inuit traditions, and gave birth to a uniquely Canadian art form.

Adina Tarralik Duffy - Inuit Pop Art – Pipsi (2015)



Traditionally, sewing was a vital survival skill for Inuit living on the land. The women’s ingenuity and skilful stitching transformed animal hides into clothing, blankets, tents, and even into seafaring vessels such as the kayak. The entire family depended upon the sewing ability of women, from the men on the hunt to babies cuddled in their mother’s parka hood. In the long winter months in their igloos, as women decorated their parkas and garments with lavish colourful decorations, their daughters would learn to sew by observation. All these age-old skills have been transferred to the modern textile art of today’s Inuit women. These talented seamstresses easily apply their distinctive and complex abilities to their modern wall hangings, on which they depict the animals of the Arctic, the lifestyle of the Inuit, and the spiritual perceptions of their ancestors.

Jaco Ishulutak - Seal (2015)

Culture on Cloth is now a global arts and education project that I direct that creates connections to and from the Arctic through art. Culture on Cloth is organized in concert with regional museums and government entities and its events are hosted in countries all over the world. Early Culture on Cloth projects focus on a specialized Arctic art tradition: handmade Inuit wall hangings that are shipped and shown around the world. Major museums participate in those programs that fit closely with their own art missions and expertise. Today I have refined the learning model to a more interactive approach and broadened the programming to specialize in children’s events and education. Interactive children’s work has been so well received that country projects are now designed with youth development programs as core curricula. What are these “interactive activities”? Culture on Cloth country projects and outcomes extend beyond arts appreciation to cultural dialogues with exercises that help children learn to tell their own stories through art – art that in turn is viewed by other children far away. New children’s tapestries are stitched with local materials and local images to share with other children around the world. Culture on Cloth programs continue to identify and share selected Arctic artworks around the globe in great public spaces and galleries. Today, however, the program encourages children to join in building new bridges between their own communities and the communities of the Arctic. The Culture on Cloth project has become a vehicle for children to celebrate symbols of their own lives and to share in the personal creation of an interconnected world.

Johnny Amittu - Beluga (2012)

The excitement produced by the Culture on Cloth program continues to amaze me. I always include two large maps – one of this hemisphere, showing Ottawa and Baker Lake, the other of the globe showing the host country and Baker Lake. In this world, experience is about human beings reaching out to understand and appreciate one another. The kindness and warmth I have felt in every location is astounding. Through sharing their own culture on cloth, the elder women of Baker Lake have made our world a smaller place. In helping to coordinate many key aspects of the Culture on Cloth project around the world, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs is continuing to show its commitment to all peoples.



JUDITH VARNEY BURCH

Arctic Culture Forum, Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution

Curator of Nunavut’s Culture on Cloth