Kinship Communities Exhibition: Kinngait (Cape Dorset)

This is the third in a series of blog posts about the recent Kinship Communities exhibition curated for the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery’s Helen Christou Gallery. Each post provides additional background information on the communities represented in the exhibition and some of the artwork included.

In the 1950s, the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources (now known as the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs) began to establish arts and crafts projects in the Arctic communities that had been formed as a result of government relocation and organization policies of the Inuit. Much of the federal government’s motivation was economic; they wanted to encourage these new communities to support themselves. As Kyra Vladykov Fisher explains in her article, “Although the government intervened financially with the economy of the North, it never intended to do so forever.” Before settlement, of course, the Inuit were self-reliant people who had lived for centuries nomadically off the land. However, with the movement into communities, the Inuit were often unable to survive the way they previously had and relied more on government support. Kinngait was one of the communities where art was presented as a way to make an income, and artists there were the first to produce drawings and prints.

Credit: Benjamin Korda / National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque/Library and Archives Canada/PA-146514. James Houston and Pauta Saila examining a stone-cut in the Art Centre, Cape Dorset, N.W.T., [(Kinngait), Nunavut], August 1961.

With the presence of James and Alma Houston in the 1950s and 1960s, Kinngait was one of the communities where art was presented as a way to make an income. James Houston was himself an artist who travelled to the Arctic and worked with the federal government, the Canadian Guild of Crafts, and the Hudson’s Bay Company to showcase Inuit art. The Houstons, along with Terry Ryan, who worked as an arts advisor in 1960, and soon after became the manager of the Kinngait Co-Operative where he remained for forty years, helped define the styles and techniques used by Kinngait artists. The Houstons encouraged stone sculpture and pencil drawings in the early years, buying work from Inuit artists to sell in the South. Some printmaking was also done, however, and early prints were done with linoleum floor tiles and fabric. After a trip to Japan in 1958 to observe woodcut printing, Houston introduced the technique to Kinngait, where sculptors adapted the practice using stone, which was more readily available in the Arctic than wood. Up until this point, artists sold their work at the Hudson’s Bay post, but by 1958, discussions around the development of a co-op began in earnest, after the printmaking shop began to take off.

Installation view, Kinship Communities (February 5 - August 27, 2021), Helen Christou Gallery.

Carving and sculpture were widely used techniques for creating household and utilitarian objects and this expertise is why stonecut printmaking was the focus in Kinngait, compared to the use of stencil in other communities. Stonecutters were carvers first and used this knowledge, with Houston and Ryan’s encouragement, to create prints. The first generation of Kinngait artists who made drawings and prints developed a tradition of stylized naturalism, with anthropomorphic animals in heroic, humorous or dramatic poses, as seen in Anirnik Oshuitoq’s Image (1974) with its cheerful, stylized mother and child bird figures. Kinngait art is also characterized by the use of blended colour, shown in Pitseolak Ashoona’s Animals I Know (1972), as well as a richness of texture, like that of Ulayu Pingwartok’s Family and Sealskin Tent (1974). The stonecut technique also creates a centralized, almost symmetrical composition, as seen in Anna Kingwatsiak’s Seal Hunter (1970), and delicate negative space linework, clearly depicted in Pitaloosie Saila’s Igloo Dwellers (1973).

Although the relationship between artist and printer is an important part of printmaking in all the Inuit communities displayed in this exhibition, it is particularly strong within the community of Kinngait. A number of the printshop’s founding printmakers working under Houston’s guidance printed the works featured in this exhibition. Iyola Kingwatsiak printed a number of works by his sister, Anna Kingwatsiak, Lukta Qiatsuq printed the work by Pitaloosie Saila in this exhibition, and Eegyvudluk Pootoogook was married to Pitseolak Ashoona’s daughter, Napachie Pootoogook, and printed his mother-in-law’s work. Timothy Ottochie, who printed the works by Anirnik Oshuitoq and Ulayu Pingwartok featured in the exhibition, was also an original member of the printshop. In many cases, the artists knew each other and influenced each other’s styles, but the printers of the works are as equally as important to the community, and, of course, the final print.

Ulayu Pingwartok was born in 1904 near Kimmirut (Lake Harbour), NU and was adopted as an infant, living in camps around Kinngait before eventually settling there in 1959 with her husband. The couple had six children, two of whom passed away. Following treatment for tuberculosis and being widowed in the late 1960s, Pingwartok returned to

Ulayu Pingwartok, Family and Sealskin Tent, 1974, ink Kinngait and was encouraged

(stonecut) on paper. From the University of Lethbridge to create drawings for the

Art Collection; gift of Dr. Margaret “Marmie” Perkins print collection. In the late

Hess, 2017. 1960s, Pingwartok moved in

with her daughter. She was

prolific, creating over 700 drawings depicting camp life, nature, and the world around her.

Family and Sealskin Tent depicts familial connections and my larger theme of kinship so succinctly. The imagery of a family living in a camp is not unusual for Pingwartok, she is known for such representations of everyday life. In classic Kinngait style, the print uses a gradation of blended colour and, particularly the sealskin tent, shows a lot of texture. What I think makes this print particularly evocative, however, is the wholeness and happiness shown in the individuals’ faces. Despite Pingwartok herself facing a great deal of personal hardship in her lifetime: being orphaned, losing two children, and being widowed; she could have easily created a very different image of a family.

Pitaloosie Saila, Igloo Dwellers, 1973, ink (stonecut) on paper. From the University of Lethbridge Art Collection; gift of Dr. Margaret “Marmie” Perkins Hess, 2017.

Pitaloosie Saila was born in 1942 in Kinngait and spent much of her childhood receiving treatment for tuberculosis. During this time Saila learned English and despite some issues re-learning Inuktitut, she is one of the few of her generation who speak both languages fluently. Saila married her husband, a sculptor, in the early 1960s. They had eight children, four of whom were from previous relationships or adopted. Saila began drawing around 1965 and depicted Inuit ways of life and how she remembers her relatives living.

While this print is fairly overt in its connection to this exhibition’s theme of kinship, I actually selected it because of its texture and colour. Saila employs the characteristic Kinngait delicate linework as well as the exquisite use of colour. This work is perhaps the most vibrant and bright in the exhibition. The texture of the igloo shows the detail and effort that went into the carving of the stone for the printing. This work’s printer, Lukta Qiatsuq, was one of the original printers who worked with Houston and his skill is evident in the execution of this print.

Anirnik Oshuitoq was born in 1902 on a whaling boat near Kimmirut (Lake Harbour), NU. Oshuitoq married and had four children, with her eldest daughter being the only one to survive. After the death of her first husband, Oshuitoq remarried and had two more children, both of whom passed away before she was again widowed. Oshuitoq eventually settled with her daughter and son-in-law in Kinngait in the early 1960s where she began drawing. Oshuitoq’s vibrant compositions portray figures that are inspired by Inuit folklore and these playful, original depiction garnered her international recognition.

As soon as I saw Image, I knew I was going to include it in the exhibition. There was just something so cheerful Anirnik Oshuitoq, Image, 1974, ink (stonecut) on paper.

about the print that I was From the University of Lethbridge Art Collection; gift of

drawn to, even before Dr. Margaret “Marmie” Perkins Hess, 2017.

learning about the

juxtaposition it created with

Oshuitoq’s personal life. For someone who has experienced so much loss, Oshuitoq was able to create such a happy image of a stylized mother and baby bird. This itself speaks to the theme of community and kinship, Oshuitoq illustrates the connection between family, even those who have passed on.

One of the most prolific art communities in the Arctic, Kinngait has seen, and continues to see, many brilliant artists who work together to create art. The stylized images and bold use of colour continue to signal distinctly Kinngait works.

Ryley Gelinas

Collections and Research Assistant