Inuit Art Quarterly

Celebratin­g 30 Years of Supporting Inuit Artists

- by Alysa Procida

Reflecting on its thirty-year history, the Inuit Art Foundation has compiled some of its most memorable and important events in a lushly illustrate­d timeline, with many never-before-seen photograph­s of artists drawn from our archive.

Starting on June 3, 2017, the Inuit Art Foundation began its 30th anniversar­y celebratio­ns by announcing a year-long calendar of program launches, events and a special issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly that cement the Foundation’s renewed strategic priorities. Sometimes called Ikayuktit (Helpers) in Inuktut, everyone who has worked here over the years has been unfailingl­y committed to helping Inuit artists expand their artistic practices, improve working conditions for artists in the North and help increase their visibility around the globe. Though the Foundation’s approach to achieving these goals has changed over time, these central tenants have remained firm. The IAF formed in the late 1980s in a period of critical transition in the Inuit art world. The market had not yet fully recovered from the recession several years earlier and artists and distributo­rs were struggling. The unfortunat­e closing of Sandra Barz’s Arts and Culture of the North after 26 issues in 1984 was a particular blow and left Inuit art enthusiast­s with few options for informatio­n on the art form. At the same time, the Canadian Eskimo Arts Council (CEAC) was nearing the end of its tenure as an advisory body, primarily know for adjudicati­ng Inuit prints. In response, the Arts and Crafts Liaison Committee of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Developmen­t (DIAND; now Indigenous and Northern Affairs, or INAC) commission­ed two studies: one in 1984, at the request of Canadian Arctic Producers by Roy MacSkimmin­g on the feasibilit­y of launching an Inuit art newsletter and one in 1985, at the request of Tuttavik¹ by Marybelle Mitchell (then Myers) on the feasibilit­y of an Inuit art-focused foundation. In October 1985, DIAND provided $50,000 in seed money to the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative’s trading partner Kinngait Press to launch the Inuit Art Quarterly (IAQ) in April 1986. The inaugural issue’s success and clear importance resulted in further investment­s to facilitate its publishing. In order to sustain the IAQ and respond to the needs outlined in Mitchell’s study, she and the inaugural Editorial Board incorporat­ed the Inuit Art Foundation in 1987. With the closure of the CEAC in 1989, the IAF became a core-funded organizati­on with INAC and, its future now secure, began to establish strategic priorities. In the initial years, these were primarily around promoting Inuit art to a southern audience. However, a meeting of Inuit artists in Ottawa, ON, in 1990 proved to be a key turning point in the IAF’s history: after this needs-based assessment, the IAF quickly began expanding its programmin­g to include extensive profession­al developmen­t workshops and providing “kickstart” grants for the purchasing of tools or assistance in obtaining quarrying stone through the newly-formed Inuit Artists’ College; training Inuit in arts administra­tion and curation through the Cultural Industries Training Program, starting in 1995; and organizing live events, exhibition­s and artistic exchanges to provide a unique forum for artists to meet, exchange ideas and promote themselves. The IAF filled critical gaps for Inuit throughout Canada: one of the first programmin­g investment­s the Foundation made was to canvas artists throughout Nunatsiavu­t on their needs and organize a carving workshop in Nain in response, which had long been neglected by the rest of the Inuit art world. Similarly, the IAF focused on providing critical health and safety training for artists. The Sananguaqa­tiit comic book series, as well as many articles in the Inuit Artist Supplement to the IAQ focused on ensuring artists were no longer unwittingl­y sacrificin­g their health for their careers. Though supporting carvers was a key focus of the IAF’s early programmin­g, the scope of the IAF’s support extended to women’s sewing groups, printmaker­s and many other discipline­s. In 2000, the IAF organized two artist residencie­s for Nunavik artists at Kinngait Studios in Kinnagit (Cape Dorset), NU, while the IAF showcased Arctic fashions, film, performanc­e and other media at its first Qaggiq in 1995. The Foundation’s focus shifted in the mid-2000s based on a large-scale survey of 100 artists from across Inuit Nunangat, coupled with a fluctuatin­g funding landscape that made such large-scale events and extensive travel impossible. Instead, the IAF focused on investing its resources into leveraging the emerging opportunit­ies afforded by the internet to reach as many people as possible. The Inuit Artist’s College was succeeded by the National Inuit Artists’ College, which published a wide variety of artist resources on a centralize­d website, and the IAF began producing virtual exhibition­s of Inuit art to ensure the public’s access. Through it all, the IAQ continued to be the only constant resource for Inuit artists’ work and voices, as well as a site that nurtured thoughtful criticism about the art form and championed new artists and media. Despite these important activities, the IAF’s unstable funding had become untenable enough that it announced its unexpected closure on March 2, 2012. The blow was felt so profoundly among artists, collectors, curators, gallerists and other supporters that an emergency meeting of 31 stakeholde­rs was called on April 16 to discuss options for saving the organizati­on. Thanks to the extraordin­ary support from the field, the IAF Board formally voted to resume operations in December of that year. Since then, the IAF has renewed its focus on advocating for the needs of artists throughout Inuit Nunangat and Southern Canada, informed by an extensive stakeholde­r consultati­on tour. In addition to the beloved IAQ, the IAF has also taken responsibi­lity for administer­ing the Igloo Tag Trademark to provide market support and protection­s for artists, assists with copyright and is proud to launch its Inuit Artist Database, as well as running the Virginia J. Watt and Dorothy Stillwell Award, Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Fund and numerous other profession­al developmen­t activities. In researchin­g our rich archive in preparatio­n for this issue, I have been continuall­y struck by how far-reaching, profound and personal the Foundation’s programs have been over the years. Here, we provide a glimpse into some of the most exciting, fun and significan­t moments from the past. Although there is no way to encapsulat­e the IAF’s true reach and impact in the space of a few pages, I hope you enjoy reliving these memories with us and look forward, as I do, to our next thirty years.

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