Mary Yuusipik Singaqti: Back River Memories

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Mary Yuusipik Singaqti, "The Young and the Old" (detail), 1999–2008

coloured pencil, graphite on paper, 11.25" x 15" (Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Acquired with funds from a dedicated donation from Marnie and Karen Schreiber, 2015-42)

Mary Yuusipik Singaqti, born in the remote Back River area north of Baker Lake in the Nunavut interior, is known for her wall hangings and carvings.

But Darlene Coward Wight, the Winnipeg Art Gallery's curator of Inuit art, was surprised to discover the late artist's coloured-pencil drawings, which are featured in Back River Memories, on view until March 10.

The artist belonged to the last generation of Inuit to experience a nomadic way of life centred on fishing and hunting caribou. Her artistic motivation was to show her life. “I want the younger generation to know about me, how we used to live, how life was before,” she said. 

Coward Wight visited her home in Baker Lake, established as a permanent settlement in the 1950s, to hear the stories depicted in her art.

"Yuusipik explained each drawing in detail and revealed a fascinating life of both happiness and extreme hardship," says Coward Wight. "Her stories are in the exhibition and in the accompanying catalogue."

The show features 26 drawings recently purchased by the gallery, as well as wall hangings and sculptures.

A second exhibit, Nivinngajuliaat from Baker Lake, brings together wall hangings by nine artists, most of whom are women. The works date from the 1970s to the 1990s. 

Nivinngajuliaat, which means wall hanging in Inuktitut, is guest curated by Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, a curator with the Government of Nunavut, which holds the works in its collection. 

The artists include Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq, Naomi Ityi, Victoria Mamnguqsualuk Kayuryuk, Miriam Qiyuk, Jimmy Taipanak, Winnie Tatya, Marion Tuu’luuq and Jessie Uunaq (Oonark).

Source: Winnipeg Art Gallery