| One of the remarkable chapters in the history of art in Canada in the 20th century, has been the emergence of a new stage of creative expression in the Arctic. Beginning in the late 1940s, Inuit artists - in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, and Labrador -Newfoundland - have contributed to a flourishing of sculpture, drawing and printmaking and work in other media which has received international acclaim. Kenojuak Ashevak, Jessie Oonark, Karoo Ashevak, and Kiawak Ashoona are some of the men and women who have used their vision and experience of life in a changing North to create outstanding works of art - art that reflects issues of identity and aesthetics, as well as a remarkable story of cross-cultural interaction.
At the National Gallery, a suite of five octagonal rooms provides 300 sq meters of intimate space for an ongoing display of works from its collection of Inuit art. Four rooms are devoted to a selection of some 60 works aimed at giving a chronological and regional overview of Inuit art since 1949. A fifth room is reserved for mini-exhibitions which change twice a year to present more focused views of individual artists and thematic studies of the collection. Accessible from the Great Hall by either stairs or elevator, the Inuit Galleries are preceded by the Qaggiq area - drawing its name from an old Inuktitut word for an assembly house made of snow. This area includes small changing educational displays, video programs, a reading area and a map and aims to bridge the visitors experience of both art and culture.
In 1956, the National Gallery acquired its first sculptures by various Nunavik (Quebec) artists, including Charlie Sivuarapik, the first Inuit member of the Sculpture Society of Canada. Prints were also purchased from the fledgling Cape Dorset print studio in the 1960s. Followed a hiatus of some years, it was in the mid-1980s that collecting in this area was reactivated. Donations from the Friends of the National Gallery, Dorothy M. Stillwell, M.D., and M.F. Feheley increased the collection to over 350 works between 1983 and 1988. In 1989 and 1992, the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development added a further 570 works to the Gallery. Thanks to these and other gifts, and annual purchases, the collection now includes nearly 1300 works. These significant, though not exhaustive, holdings aim to represent the major creative and historical developments within the contemporary (post-1949) period of Inuit art - through important works, individual contributions, and regional aesthetic and cultural concerns.
Puvirnituq and Inukjuak in Quebec are the source of some of the most striking early sculpture. Davidialuk Alasua Amittu, Eli Weetaluktuk, and Johnny Inukpuk are among the carvers represented in the National Gallery collection who help define the narrative character of the Nunavik (Quebec) region's work. From Nunavut, Cape Dorset artists dominate sculpture holdings, with some 100 pieces by Osuitok Ipeelee, Kiawak Ashoona, Qaqaq Ashoona,Ovilu Tunnillie, and others. Other Baffin / Qikiqtaaluk region sculptors include Ennutsiak, David Atchealak, and Manasie Akpaliapik, who now resides in Ontario. In the Kivalliq (formerly Keewatin) area of Nunavut, the more austere, almost abstracted work of Arviat and Rankin Inlet artists is represented by, among others, important pieces by Lucy Tasseor Tutsweetok, John Pagnark, John Tiktak, and John Kavik. Baker Lake sculpture includes fine examples by Francis Kaluraq, Tuna Iquliq, and Mathew Aqigaaq. North and west, the Kitikmeot region is known for its expressionistic style and strong links to spiritual / shamanic beliefs. Karoo Ashevak is represented with major sculptures in whale bone, including "The Coming and Going of the Shaman." The collection also includes outstanding examples of the work of Judas Ullulaq and Charlie Ugyuk. |
