Inuit Art

July 1 – August 31, 2003

Second Floor, West – Main Library

Most Inuit live in Nunavut, a harsh, treeless, permafrost Canadian Territory above the Arctic Circle. For thousands of years, the aboriginal Inuit lived nomadically in scattered but extremely close-knit camps—one of the last hunting cultures in North America. They moved their camps summer and winter, living gently (respectfully and spiritually) off the land hunting caribou, seal, walrus, fish, and birds. When white traders arrived around 1860, many camps concentrated on whale.

Inuit means "the people" in Inuktitut, the native Inuit language. Because their very survival depended on the land and waters, Inuit have always felt close, spiritual kinship with the animals they hunted and lived among. After food, they respectfully crafted skin, bones, feathers, and ivory into clothing, shelter, tools, articles of defense, spiritual objects, toys, and art.

In 1950, the white Canadian government finally extended social services to Inuit, establishing permanent settlements and providing food, clothing, and shelter. The Inuit kinship with the land was weakened as they left behind "the old ways" of nomadic life to learn "the new ways" of imposed social structure. Cape Dorset Inuit made the transition somewhat easier than others with support and guidance from artists James Houston and Terry Ryan.

James Houston first visited the Canadian Arctic in 1948, seeking personal artistic inspiration, but instead was overwhelmed by the beauty and simplicity of Inuit carvings in ivory, bone, and stone. He immediately spearheaded a Canadian Handicrafts Guild exhibit of Inuit sculpture in Montreal (said to be "the genesis of Contemporary Inuit Art") and returned to the Arctic in 1950 as a representative of the Guild. Shortly thereafter, Houston was appointed as the Canadian Government Officer to develop stone carving as a means of financial independence for the Cape Dorset community. Houston soon introduced printmaking in the tradition of Japanese woodcuts (which he had studied after Cape Dorset artists had expressed interest in printing). Inuit artists enthusiastically drew images of "the old ways," carved those drawn images into stone, and then experimented in printing from the "stonecuts." The few stonecut prints offered for sale at the Ontario Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1957 found an enthusiastic audience. Houston and the Cape Dorset Inuit began experimenting with sealskin stencils in 1958; a printmaking cooperative was formed, producing its first collection for sale in 1959. Artist Terry Ryan soon replaced Houston as the Dorset artists' principal advisor. Ryan introduced copperplate engraving in 1961 and lithography in 1962.

Over the next few years, other formerly nomadic camps followed the Cape Dorset printmaking model. Annual limited editions of prints depicting Inuit mythology, "the old ways," and "the new ways" were released by the Cape Dorset, Baker Lake, Holman Island, Pangnirtung, and Povungnituk cooperatives—each stylistically unique—and continue to be released today. Although the Canadian government carefully controls the initial sale of Inuit art for the benefit of the cooperatives, the artists don’ot see income from subsequent sales at higher prices.

Young Inuit concerned about their Arctic environment formed the Tapirisat of Canada in 1970 to represent Inuit interest in their own land and eventually negotiated the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, which led in 1999 to the creation of a new Canadian Territory, Nunavut. Carved out of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut ("our land" in Inuktitut, the native Inuit language) has returned control of their land, wildlife, and own well-being to Inuit. Terry Ryan says (on Nunavut.com), "There is an onus on Nunavut's elected leaders to support the artistic expression of Inuit culture and the new Nunavut. There is an onus, too, on the Inuit artist to be not merely a repetitive chronicler of times past, but a witness to and active participant in this exciting new era."

This exhibit celebrates Inuit art with material from the MSU Libraries and the collection of Kriss Ostrom, Head of Circulation, Michigan State University Libraries.

Produced by Anita Ezzo and Kriss Ostrom (both MSU Librarians)

with graphics assistance from Theresa Moore and Sara Cook

and historical assistance from Michael Unsworth, MSU Librarian& Assistant Director for Canadian Studies

To see more Inuit art, please visit the Kresge Art Museum’s exhibitions before 7/25/03:

Cultural Reflections: Inuit Art from the Collections of the Dennos Museum Center

and Power of Thought: The Prints of Jessie Oonark.

For additional information visit http://www.msu.edu/~kamuseum/exhibitions/online/inuit/

or call 355-7631.