Original Prints from other Co-Ops

These limited-edition prints were released between 1984 and 1998 in the annual collections of Pangnirtung, Baker Lake and Holman. A quarter of a century ago, the technology and the traditions of the art of printmaking were already established and had flourished for two decades in these Far Northern communities.

The prints are richly varied in subject matter, artistic styles and techniques, providing fascinating windows into the fresh, creative and exuberant spirit of the Inuit people in the face of their difficult everyday lives. Multiple levels of significance can be found, aesthetic, spiritual-mythological and anthropological. For each work, a brief quotation from the catalogue of the collection concerned is provided as are the artist's and printer's names. Two of the prints are the last remaining original copy from their respective editions.

Shaman's Domain, Pangnirtung 1986, and The Power of Song, Pangnirtung 1987, grace the covers of the catalogues in the years when they were released. Both prints were created by "old faithful" Pauloosie Karpik, who had "the memories, and obviously the talents to supply material for print series" (Pangnirtung 1987).

Four graphic works are noteworthy creations by three daughters of the famed Jessie Oonark. Underwater Creatures (Baker Lake 1988), by Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, is a stonecut/stencil that joins her imaginative design with a subtle use of colour, resulting in a picture of shamanism that is both gently humorous and slightly fearsome. Victoria is also responsible for the aesthetically successful 1998 woodcut Ikaaqtuq, which depicts the major legend of Kiviuk, as he follows his family. Janet Kigusiuq recorded an important nomadic habit of the Inuit people in Journey to a Camping Place, a charming stonecut/stencil portraying familial organization "on the road". Jessie Oonark's third artist daughter Hannah Kigusiuq created the fine, large stonecut depicting various social activities that are practised in the snow, Winter Pastimes.

The oldest of these prints is Rex Kangoak's lithograph Blanket Toss (Holman 1984). Two stencils by senior artist Ekidluak Komoartok combine "colourful imaginative images... with... detailed ethnographic accuracy", a rare simultaneity of approaches (Pangnirtung 1987). Birds of Summer, by the established artist Peter Aliknak, is an outstanding lithograph/stencil.