New Exhibition of Inuit Drawings at Canadian Museum of History

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From February 16 to September 3, 2018, the Canadian Museum of History will present the travelling exhibition, Picturing Arctic Modernity – North Baffin Drawings From 1964. Through 50 original drawings — created in 1964 by Inuit men, women and youth of North Baffin Island — this exhibition explores a transformative era for the people of Canada’s eastern Arctic. The drawings offer rare first-person perspectives on daily life, history and memory‎ during a time when Inuit communities were transitioning from traditional nomadic hunting camps to permanent settlements.

“These drawings reveal a tremendous amount about Inuit culture and the impact social change had on North Baffin Island communities in the mid-1960s. Those who participated understood that their way of life was changing dramatically,” said Jean-Marc Blais, Director General of the Canadian Museum of History. “As a museum committed to preserving and presenting the history of Canada and its people, we are proud to safeguard and share this collection for the benefit of all Canadians.”

The 50 drawings are part of the Terrence Peter Ryan Baffin Island Drawing Collection, which the Museum acquired in 2014. Terry Ryan was resident art advisor at the famous Cape Dorset print studio for almost 40 years. In 1964, fearing the loss of traditional Inuit culture in the face of social change, he travelled by plane and dogsled to the North Baffin Island communities of Clyde River, Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay. There, he distributed paper and pencils and invited Inuit men, women and youth to draw. More than 150 people completed 1,842 drawings. Ryan acquired the completed drawings on his return trip.

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Jemima Angelik Nutarak "String Games and Ayagaq," 1915

Pond Inlet, Nunavut – Graphite on paper © Canadian Museum of History, IV-C-7691

This drawing documents different cat’s cradle patterns and an Inuit cup-and-ball-style game (ayagaq), which is being played inside the iglu. The artist lists the different string game patterns, such as “kayak” and “fox trap,” and adds several more on the back. These games were a way to tell stories and convey life lessons with humour and joy.

Diverse in theme, style and subject, the drawings depict scenes of hunting practices, traditional knowledge, interactions with outsiders, landscapes and daily life. The Baffin Island Drawing Collection has been designated as one of “outstanding significance and national importance” by the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board.

The entire exhibition (text, videos, website and in-gallery booklet) is presented in Inuktitut, French and English. The exhibition also features 42 video clips of the artists, their families and community members who provide their interpretations of the drawings.

Picturing Arctic Modernity was developed by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University and the Canadian Museum of History, with the assistance of the Pond Inlet Archives, Ilisaqsivik, Ittaq and Piqqusilirivvik, and funded in part by the Museums Assistance Program of the Government of Canada.

“We are excited by the innovative partnerships and collaborations that made this exhibition possible,” said Jan Allen, Director of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen’s University. “We thank the Canadian Museum of History, as well as the many Nunavut organizations and institutions that understood the vision behind this important exhibition and supported its aims. We hope, as this project continues to evolve, that the cultural significance of these drawings is shared even more widely across the North and beyond.”

The exhibition was first presented at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, Ontario from January 7 to April 9, 2017. A portion of it was displayed at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit, Nunavut, between August 26 and October 8, 2017. After its presentation at the Canadian Museum of History (February 16 to September 3, 2018), the exhibition will travel to at the Burnaby Art Gallery in British Columbia (November 17, 2018 to January 13, 2019) and the Woodstock Art Gallery in Ontario (February 16, 2019 to June 20, 2019).

Source: Canadian Museum of History