Second Sculpture Installed Outside Inuit Art Centre

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Abraham Anghik Ruben, "Time to Play," 2021

Winnipeg's new Inuit art centre, Qaumajuq, is unveiling a second sculpture to greet visitors in its outdoor plaza. 

The limestone carving, by Inuit artist Abraham Anghik Ruben, is titled Time to Play. It features a family of bears playfully climbing over one another. 

"I wanted it to be something that children could relate to, climb over, and play with," says Ruben. "So I included young bear cubs at different ages to represent the different stages of childhood development.” 

The work will join a marble statue by Inuit artist Goota Ashoona that was installed in the plaza last month.

Qaumajuq, which means “it is bright, it is lit” in Inuktitut, is expected to open later this year.

Ruben was born in 1951 in a camp south of Paulatuk, N.W.T., and east of the Mackenzie River Delta. This region is home to the Mackenzie Inuit or Inuvialuit. He moved to Vancouver in 1980, and then, in 1986, to a quiet, rural life on Salt Spring Island, where he carves in an outdoor studio.

In 1989, the Winnipeg Art Gallery organized Out of Tradition, an exhibition of sculptures by Ruben and his brother, David Ruben Piqtoukun. In 2001, the gallery gave Ruben a solo exhibition. 

The gallery will hold a major solo exhibition next year that explores Ruben’s experiences within his Inuvialuit culture, as well as his more recent study of the history and oral culture of Nordic peoples, including the Vikings.

Watch this video to learn more about the sculpture and the artist.

Source: Winnipeg Art Gallery