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Isumavut
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The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women
| Adapted from Inuit Women Artists: Voices from Cape Dorset, Canadian Museum of Civilization and Douglas & McIntyre, 1994 - Article entitled Isumavut: The Artistic Expression of Nine Cape Dorset Women, by Odette Leroux, p. 18 to 36. © Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1994.
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Art is a relatively new medium of expression for Inuit women. It has evolved only since the 1960s, nurtured in various artists’ workshops that have sprung up in scattered communities across the Arctic. Carving was a man’s art and few women had ventured to experiment in that field. The introduction of graphics in the late 1950s in Cape Dorset, however, unleashed a wealth of latent talent. Women responded to the opportunity to work with this new medium, perhaps because it could be handled in the privacy of their home. Whatever the reasons, the results have been impressive. The art that these women have created leads the viewer into a world torn between the traditional and the modern, the mystical and the rational. But more than this, the art looks through female eyes, noticing colors, clothes, relationships with children, chores that demand daily attention, hardships that must be endured, customs that must be passed on, beauty that underlies even the bleakest landscape.
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| The art of Inuit women opens a unique window on a remote world. My long-standing fascination with this window was heightened in 1990 when I was asked to write a few short biographies on Inuit women artists for the Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century North American Women Artists. As I worked, I became enthralled by the themes I perceived in the art and began to conceive of a project that would pull together the work of several artists. The enormous distances and daunting costs made it impractical to include women’s art from across the Canadian Arctic, so I decided to focus on just one community of women artists: Cape Dorset.
It was in this community that the efforts of James Houston to encourage art among the Inuit people had its tentative beginnings in the early 1950s. Houston and his wife Alma lived in Cape Dorset for ten years, cultivating the rise of interest in the graphic arts and providing a nucleus around which an artistic community could coalesce. Their work has been continued by their successor, Terrence Ryan. In his position as General Manager and Artistic Advisor, Ryan’s foresight and entrepreneurship has resulted in national and international recognition of the talents and creativity of Cape Dorset artists. Today, the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative is the heart of the community, serving the artists as an archival centre, a source of supplies, and a marketing company. Several accomplished women artists live in or near Cape Dorset, nine of whom are represented here.
Marion (Mame) Jackson had conducted interviews with several artists in Cape Dorset in 1979. I asked if she would be interested in collaborating with me. She was delighted and agreed. The idea of having the women write about themselves owes to my memory of a 1975 exhibition held at the National Gallery of Canada entitled Some Canadian Women Artists, curated by Mayo Graham. Its catalogue included the artists’ overviews of their style and comments on their personal concerns. With Marne’s encouragement, I decided to develop this approach.
The adventure began in December 1990 when Jimmy Manning, an Inuit photographer and Assistant Manager at the West Baffin Co-operative, met with the artists to explain the project. The women enthusiastically agreed to participate, although many had never written before. Jimmy continued to assist us throughout the project and his help has been invaluable. He kept in touch with the artists, coordinated our field trips, and always provided me with the most accurate information. In February 1991, Minnie Aodla Freeman travelled with me to Cape Dorset for a full discussion of the project in Inuktitut. To our surprise, Mayoreak Ashoona, Qaunak Mikkigak and Napachie Pootoogook brought their completed stories to our first meeting, while Kenojuak Ashevak, Pitaloosie Saila and Ovilu Tunnillie had started writing and told us they intended to finish before our departure.
We had taken a portfolio for each artist with color photocopies of their works of art, including graphics, jewelry and sculptures gathered from museums, galleries and private collections. This was the first time any of the artists had seen their works gathered together in one collection. They were happy to pick a few of their favorite works and comment on them. These commentaries offered new insights into the artist’s own perspective.
The artists enjoyed meeting together to discuss their ideas and their work. For many, this was their first opportunity to exchange opinions in a group discussion. They were excited to talk about their work in front of colleagues and to hear the opinion of outsiders on the aesthetic value of their work and their style. They told us later that the exchange had given them much encouragement to pursue their artistic careers. Some also shared stories about Pitseolak Ashoona and Lucy Qinnuayuak who are no longer living.
Our farewell dinner at Pitaloosie’s house was a wonderful caribou stew prepared by Pitaloosie, three types of bannock, and desserts. After the meal, we had all kinds of entertainment, including accordion music (everyone had a try at it) as well as throat singing by Qaunak, Napachie and Minnie, Inuit folk music, and a video of Inuit square dancing and music. We also danced. Kenojuak Ashevak is a really good dancer. We left with fine memories of this evening at the Sailas’ home and a sense of a strong bond of friendship.
In February 1992, I travelled to Cape Dorset once more with Marion Jackson to further interview each artist and verify details of the texts, the biographies and the statements about the art. The exceptional sculptures of Oopik Pitsiulak had been added to our project. During this visit Oopik recorded her life story and observations on tape. This became the basis of her story. With the end of the second meeting came an understanding that the project would have consequences we had not imagined. As Mayoreak Ashoona said, “Since you came last year I felt the need to write more about my way of life to be transmitted to my children and my grandchildren.” She then gave us a new manuscript of her autobiography written in syllabics.
This compulsion to record what is passing is evident in the work of these artists. They are all aware that Inuit society is increasingly vulnerable to outside cultural influences. The arrival of mass communication has thrown their traditional society into a state of upheaval, and as a result, the perception, tastes and behavior of the inhabitants of the North are changing rapidly. The artists mirror these changes in their work, but they are also concerned to capture the past and preserve what they remember and what they have experienced. We realized that we might have provided an unexpected extra impetus in this direction.
The project also made it imperative that major works from museums, galleries and private collectors in Canada and abroad be identified. Not only were the artists energized by seeing works that had been dispersed around the world gathered into portfolios, but approximately twenty-one sculptures were subsequently acquired for the National Inuit Art Collection. They are part of Canada’s cultural heritage and will be available to be admired by future generations.
The stories, comments, sculptures, prints and drawings created by these artists open the personal universe of the women artists of Cape Dorset. Each one has her own highly individualistic style and her own distinct way of reproducing form, line, curve and angle, and of selecting graphic elements, dimensions, surfaces, textures and colours. George Swinton, in his book Sculpture of the Inuit, suggests that their inspiration is essentially based in realism. Certainly the narrative content of the art is often autobiographical or historical, and shows occasional flashes of humor and fantasy.
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