Day at the Museum II

Until reading an e-mail from my grandmother about how much she liked the pictures I took at the museum I had completely forgotten that I had originally intended on posting pictures of artworks from the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum.  Like I mentioned in the last post, the temporary exhibit was the Pangnirtung 2010 Print Collection.  Pangnirtung is apparently incredible and I plan to make my way there at some point.  What is interesting about the art that is created in these small Northern communities is that some of the prints created become world-reknown and yet the recognition of Inuit art doesn't match the fact that many of the artists still rely on welfare.  While not all artists can make a living from their art, the discrepancy that exists here is that the percentage the artists make from their works is often a tenth of what the work is sold for in the South.  Basically, a sculpture that an artist will sell for $100 here might sell for $700 in Ottawa.  Anyhow, needless to say it's an interesting reality for artists up here... And by no means an ideal one.  With that in mind, here are some of my favourite prints from the temporary exhibit as well as some of the prints that really caught my eye from the permanent collection.  I forgot to take down the names of the artists from the permanent collection but I'll rectify this when I go back to the museum.

Andrew Qappik, Relentless Pursuit, Etching/Aquatint

Andrew Qappik, Akuluk (Term of Endearment), Etching/Aquatint

Piona Keyuakjuk, Bird Woman, Relief

(This one made me think of the type of poster I would see at my aunt France's house)

Elisapee Ishulutaq, Three Snow Geese, Stencil

Permanent Collection - Artist info to come

Permanent Collection - Artist info to come

Permanent Collection - Artist info to come

(There is an aesthetic quality to these prints that I just can't get enough of.  I think it's something about the simplicity of the figures and the composition.)