Inuit Women Artists

The tiny Canadian hamlet of Cape Dorset, just south of the Arctic Circle, has been known since the late 1950s as the capital of Inuit art, thanks to the community's many talented artists. Here, 12 female artists and writers reflect on a way of life that is now threatened. Each has a story to tell - of growing up female in a harsh environment, of adapting to new cultures and learning the nuances of familiar ways, of learning new art forms through which to portray the best, and worst, of their extraordinary lives. Interwoven with vivid images of a unique culture and a stern landscape are the women's thoughtful comments on their creative inspirations. Each speaks her concerns with energy, channelling her passions through art that is at once subtle and bold, delicate in detail yet forceful. Two hundred illustrations, over 50 in full color, depict the artists' striking graphics, sculpture, and jewelry.

First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Inuit Women is the definitive study of the Inuit during a time of rapid change. Based on fourteen years of research and fieldwork, this analysis focuses on the challenges facing Inuit women as they enter the twenty-first century. Written shortly after the creation of Nunavut, a new province carved out of traditional Inuit homelands in the Canadian North, this compelling book combines conclusions drawn from the authors' ethnographic research with the stories of Inuit women and men, told in their own words. In addition to their presentation of the personal portraits and voices of many Inuit respondents, Janet Mancini Billson and Kyra Mancini explore global issues: the impact of rapid social change and Canadian resettlement policy on Inuit culture; women's roles in society; and gender relations in Baffin Island, in the Eastern Arctic. They also include an extensive section on how the newly created territory of Nunavut is impacting the lives of Inuit women and their families. Working from a research approach grounded in feminist theory, the authors involve their Inuit interviewees as full participants in the process. This book stands alone in its attention to Inuit women's issues and lives and should be read by everyone interested in gender relations, development, modernization, globalization, and Inuit culture.

Qummut Qukiria! celebrates art and culture within and beyond traditional Inuit and Sámi homelands in the Circumpolar Arctic -- from the continuance of longstanding practices such as storytelling and skin sewing to the development of innovative new art forms such as throatboxing (a hybrid of traditional Inuit throat singing and beatboxing). In this illuminating book, curators, scholars, artists, and activists from Inuit Nunangat, Kalaallit Nunaat, Sápmi, Canada, and Scandinavia address topics as diverse as Sámi rematriation and the revival of the ládjogahpir (a Sámi woman's headgear), the experience of bringing Inuit stone carving to a workshop for inner-city youth, and the decolonizing potential of Traditional Knowledge and its role in contemporary design and beyond. Qummut Qukiria! showcases the thriving art and culture of the Indigenous Circumpolar peoples in the present and demonstrates its importance for the revitalization of language, social wellbeing, and cultural identity.

In the 1950s, Chauncey C. Nash started collecting Inuit carvings just as the art of printmaking was introduced in Kinngait (Cape Dorset). His collection of early Inuit sculpture and prints represents a vibrant period in contemporary Inuit art. Drawing from ethnology, archaeology, art history, and cultural studies, Lutz tells the collection’s story.

A gorgeous retrospective on the transformation of Inuit art in the 20th century, mirroring the vast and poignant cultural changes in the North. In response to a rapidly changing Arctic environment, Inuit have had to cope with the transition from a traditional lifestyle to the disturbing realities of globalization and climate change. Inuit art in the latter half of the 20th century reflects the reciprocal stimulus of contact with Euro-Canadians and embodies the evolution of a modern Inuit aesthetic that springs from an ancient cultural context, creating an exciting new hybridized art form. Inuit Modern: Art from the Samuel and Esther Sarick Collection situates modern Inuit art within a larger framework that reinterprets the Canadian Arctic. Essays by leading Canadian scholars in the field including Ingo Hessel, Robert McGhee, Christine Laloude, Heather Igloliorte, Dorothy Eber and Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad examine the social, political and cultural transformation through the dynamic lens of colonial influence and agency. Inuit Modern also features interviews with David Ruben Piqtoukun and Zacharias Kunuk. This book was published in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario.