Read About the Art...
Canadian Inuit, an indigenous people living in Canada’s northernmost reaches, have been making art for over 4,000 years.
Archaeological discoveries show that they were exceptionally skilful in the making and decorating of everyday equipment and clothing. In more recent years, this tradition of artmaking has metamorphosed into a striking and unique art form encompassing a range of media, expression, and creativity.
Although stone carving is the most popular and longstanding of Inuit art forms, other media have been explored and developed over the years.
Interest in the graphic arts began in the mid-1950s, and the first print collection was released in Cape Dorset in 1959.
Media
Typically, Inuit artists employ indigenous materials in their artwork, fashioning imagery from the land that surrounds them. Serpentine’s softness and strikingly varied colours make it the most popular material for carving, although technological developments have allowed artists to experiment with harder materials such as granite and marble.
Other carving materials include caribou antler, walrus tusk ivory, and the brittle, porous whale bone found scattered on the northern coast.
Grass for baskets is gathered locally in Labrador and along the shores of Hudson’s Bay, while the same duffle, embroidery thread and tanned caribou hides, used to make Inuit clothes for many years, are made into colourful wall hangings.
Fusing their medium, cultural roots, and personal vision into expressive works, artists have explored different creative paths, some cleaving to earlier idioms, and others developing strikingly contemporary styles.
Inspiration
Inuit artists are often inspired by the arctic landscape and the Inuit way of life. For many, it is a way of preserving these identifiers of Inuit culture for future generations.
Creative
While other artforms allow for a less direct creative process, Inuit carvers usually work directly on their materials without preliminary drawings or maquettes.
Many carvers speak of liberating an image inherent in the stone.
Technique
Historically, artists have learned techniques by watching those more experienced than they and experimenting on their own. Today, more support networks exist to assist in artists’ development, and some have received informal instruction. Cooperatively-run artists’ associations, maintained in many communities, help acquire materials and tools, solve problems on a local level, and provide professional development opportunities.
Dynamic
Although in the past Inuit artists have been relatively isolated by the distances between themselves and those people who display, discuss, and collect their work, they are now reaching out to national and international art communities, participating in symposia, teaching workshops, and attending exhibition openings around the world.
Dynamic and ever-changing, this art form with a thousand faces will continue to move and excite.
For Retailers...
The Marketing Brochure, developed by the Inuit Art Foundation and pictured above, is a useful tool for Inuit art dealers, providing a succinct overview of Inuit art in English and French. It includes:
- up-to-date information about Inuit art and culture
- validation box for dealer stamp or label
- a map of the Canadian Arctic
- detachable panel on which to record details of the purchase such as: the artists’ name and community, the title and a brief description of the artwork, the date it was made, and, of special importance to art dealers, the name of the gallery where it was purchased.
The Inuit Art Foundation provides brochures to retailers, at cost, upon request.
For more information, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call (613) 224-8189 x 24